How to view the contents of iPhone backups?

MichaelGeorge162 wrote:

Just so I understand, the only way to view the contents is to backup my iPhone now, and then restore from a backup?

This just seems really out-of-character for Apple's focus on being simple and easy to use.

Yup, if you synced data to icloud then you can view it on a web browser.

MichaelGeorge162 wrote:

I have located some iPhone backup folders on my Mac, some dating back to 2014. I want to see the pictures, videos and other data contained within them, but sadly the only resources I can find online are to purchase third-party applications to do this? Surely there must be a way to do this via Apple, without having to pay for third party applications? I am really confused and would appreciate any support here please.

Backups can't be viewed.

How can I view the contents of my iCloud?

Maybe the better question is, if I delete some content from my iPhone does it delete from my iCloud?

Yes, on the next backup to iCloud. That way if you accidentally deleted something you can still restore it from the current backup.