Changing iTunes backup location

Changing iTunes backup location

If like me you have a SSD as your main drive (C:\) and a spindle hard disk as a secondary data drive (D:\) then it’s a worthwhile moving your iTunes backup folder to the data drive and save space on the SSD. This guide has been tested on Window 10 (build 15063) and PowerShell (version 5.1.15063.608).

iTunes by default installs in to C:\Program Files for the 64bit version and puts user files in C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer where <username> is your Windows username (your username is used in the commands below as well). This location contains folders such as Logs, Preferences and MobileSync of which the Backup folder lies beneath and this is where the backups for your iOS devices reside. There is no way to move the backup location within iTunes, you can only move the media folder so we need to create what Windows calls a “Junction Link” from the current folder to a new folder on different hard disk. Easy šŸ™‚

** Note ** The MobileSync folder and Backup folder beneath it will not exist on a fresh install of iTunes. You need to of backed up an iOS device first in order for these folders to be created.

Once we’ve linked them, every time iTunes creates a backup of your iOS device it will be saved into the new Backup folder on the other drive.

Lets start.

  1. Quit iTunes if it is running.
  2. I have created a new folder in my D:\Data directory and called it iTunes Backups.
     
  3. Right click on the Windows Start menu and select Window PowerShell (Admin).
  4. First we need to move all the existing backups to the new folder; at the PowerShell (PS) Prompt type Move-Item ‘C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup\*’ ‘D:\Data\iTunes Backups\’
    ** Note ** include the apostrophes as they allow spaces in the path.
    ** Hint ** you can type a couple of characters and then Tab |<- ->| to complete the paths, just like Linux šŸ™‚

    iTunes backup folders use an alphanumeric string
  5. Next we remove the old Backup folder; at the PowerShell (PS) Prompt type Remove-Item -path ‘C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup’
  6. Lastly we will create a Junction Link to the new folder; at the PowerShell (PS) Prompt type New-Item -ItemType Junction -Path ‘C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup’ -Value ‘D:\Data\iTunes Backups’ this creates a new folder that looks like a shortcut but is actually a Junction Link to the new folder on the D: drive.

    Junction Link created
  7. Start iTunes and check in the Edit > Preferences > Devices (tab) that your backups are present.

That’s it! Now all the backups will be stored on the other hard drive, in my case D:\Data\iTunes Backup. Note in Windows Explorer that this doesn’t function the same as a shortcut where the path would change to the destination of the shortcut. For all intents and purposes Windows believes that the location is the original but the Junction Link is to a folder located on a different volume.

Windows Explorer none the wiser

-Wastey

One thought on “Changing iTunes backup location

  1. Thank you for your efforts in putting this together for doing all the steps via PowerShell. Appreciate it.

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