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Yes—you can store an iPhone’s local Mac backup on an external drive, but Finder does not offer a destination picker. The workaround is to move the standard MobileSync/Backup folder to the external drive and put a symbolic link in its original location. Finder then continues using its normal backup path, which macOS redirects to the drive. This is a third-party filesystem workaround, not an Apple Finder setting.
Choose between an external-drive backup and iCloud
| Option | Best fit | What to consider |
|---|---|---|
| Finder backup redirected to an external drive | You want a local computer backup while limiting use of the Mac’s internal storage. | Requires a symbolic link, writable external storage, and a mounted drive when backing up or restoring. Apple’s Finder instructions explain local backups, while the redirect is described in a third-party guide. |
| iCloud backup | You want Apple’s cloud-based backup workflow. | It is separate from changing the Mac’s local backup folder and depends on your iCloud setup and available storage. See Apple’s iCloud backup instructions. |
Make a baseline Finder backup first
Keep an existing known-good backup before changing folders. If anything goes wrong with the redirect, the baseline gives you a backup that was created before the change.
- Connect the iPhone to the Mac. Approve accessory access if prompted.
- Open Finder and select the iPhone in the sidebar. If prompted, approve the Trust prompts on the iPhone and Mac.
- In the device’s General view, click Back Up Now and wait for the backup to finish.
- If you need Health and Activity data in the backup, select Encrypt local backup before starting it. Store the password safely: Apple Support warns, “You can’t recover your backup without this password.”
On macOS Catalina 10.15 or later, Apple’s local-backup instructions use Finder. On macOS Mojave or earlier, they use iTunes. You can view and manage local backups through Finder’s Manage Backups control. Apple’s instructions are at Back up your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch with your Mac.
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Use a directly connected drive with enough free space for the backup and room for future backups. Check the drive in Finder before moving anything:
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- Select the drive and choose File > Get Info to inspect its format and available space.
- Check Sharing & Permissions and confirm your account can write to it.
- Do not assume every format works for this redirect. Apple describes APFS and Mac OS Extended as Mac formats, ExFAT and FAT as Windows-compatible formats, and notes that NTFS may be readable but not writable by macOS. Apple’s guidance covers saving to external storage generally; it does not certify a specific format for redirected iPhone backups. See Apple’s external-drive save troubleshooting guidance.
Move the backup folder and create a symbolic link
Apple’s standard Mac backup directory is ~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/. The workaround moves that Backup folder onto the external drive and creates a symbolic link named Backup at the original location, pointing to the moved folder. Finder still writes to its usual path; macOS follows the link to the external destination.
The third-party procedure is documented in this iMore guide. Its example commands use a specific drive path. Do not paste them unchanged: the path must match your own mounted volume name and destination folder. If you are not comfortable moving folders or following a symbolic-link procedure carefully, do not proceed until you can verify each path.
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- In Finder, open
~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/. If the Library folder is hidden, use Finder’s Go > Go to Folder command and enter the path. - Move the existing
Backupfolder to a clearly named folder on the external drive. Preserve the moved folder and its contents. - Create a symbolic link named
Backupin the originalMobileSynclocation that points to the moved folder on the external drive. The exact target path depends on the volume name and folder you chose; use the third-party procedure’s path pattern only after replacing it with your actual path. - Keep the original backup folder on the external drive until a new redirected backup has completed and you have verified its contents.
The link depends on the drive being mounted at the expected path. If the drive is disconnected, renamed, or not mounted, Finder may not be able to reach the intended destination, and a backup may fail. Connect the drive before creating a backup or restoring from one.
Run and verify a new backup
- Connect and mount the external drive.
- Connect the iPhone, open Finder, select it in the sidebar, and click Back Up Now.
- Wait for Finder to report a successful backup and check the displayed latest backup date and time.
- Inspect the destination folder on the external drive and confirm that backup data is present there. Finder’s completion indicator verifies that its backup operation finished; checking the external destination confirms the redirect is pointing where you intended.
Restore from the redirected backup
Keep the external drive connected so the Mac can access the redirected folder. In Finder, select the iPhone, open General, choose Restore Backup, select the backup, and follow the prompts. If the backup is encrypted, enter its password. Apple documents this restore workflow in its Mac backup instructions. A successful backup on one setup does not establish that every drive or file-system configuration will restore successfully, so verify your own backup and keep the drive available.
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Find the standard backup location
Apple lists the default Mac backup folder as ~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/. If the symbolic link is in place, that original path is where Finder looks, while the link directs it to the folder on the external drive. Apple’s location details are in Locate backups of your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
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