It is recommended to create a backup of your iPhone before upgrading it to a major iOS version or making significant changes to iOS. Backing up iPhone to Windows 10/11 PC is easy with iTunes.
The backup copy can be used to restore your iPhone to a previous date. Depending on the size of apps, photos, messages, and other data, the size of the iPhone backup copy will vary from tens of GBs to hundreds of GBs.
If you have used iTunes to back up your iPhone to your Windows 10/11 PC, you might want to delete the iPhone backup to free up some space.
This guide will show you how to delete the iPhone backup from Windows 10/11 PC and Mac.
Delete iPhone backup from Windows 10/11 PC
Step 1: Open the iTunes app.
Step 2: Click the Edit menu and then click Preferences. If the Preferences option does not appear under the Edit menu, click the File menu and then click Preferences.
Step 3: Click on Devices.
Step 4: In the Device backups section, click on your iPhone’s entry.
Step 5: Select your iPhone’s entry and click the Delete Backup button.
If you have backed up multiple iPhones to your PC, please exercise caution while selecting the iPhone, as you cannot recover the backup once deleted.
Step 6: When you are asked for confirmation, click the Delete button again to delete the iPhone backup.
Delete iPhone backup via Windows 10/11 File Explorer
In addition to the iTunes app, you can also use File Explorer to access and delete the iPhone backup.
Step 1: Open the Run command using search or Windows + R hotkey.
Step 2: Copy and paste the following path:
%UserProfile%\Apple\MobileSync\Backup
(Use the above path if iTunes is installed from Windows Store)
%AppData%\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup
(Use the above path if iTunes setup is downloaded and installed from Apple)
Step 3: You will see a folder with some numbers. It contains your iPhone backup files. If you open the folder, you will see many subfolders and some files.
To delete the iPhone backup, right-click on the folder and click Delete. If you no longer need the backup copy (which is why you want to delete it, right?), we recommend you select the folder and then hit the Shift + Delete keys to permanently delete the iPhone backup by skipping the Recycle Bin.
Delete iPhone backup from a Mac
Use this method if you backed up your iPhone to Mac using Finder.
Step 1: Connect iPhone to Mac.
Step 2: Open Finder. In the left pane, click on your iPhone’s entry.
Step 3: Under the General tab, click the Manage Backups button to see a list of all backups.
Step 4: The list shows your iPhone’s name, backup date, and time for easy recognition.
Select the backup you want to delete and click the Delete Backup button.
Step 5: When asked for confirmation, click the Delete button. Your Mac might take a few seconds to delete the backup copy. Once done, click the OK button.
Tip: How to change the default iPhone backup location in Windows 10/11 guide might also interest you.
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