Restore a backup from Windows 10 PC folder to iPhone? (there is no backup in iTunes/iCloud)

I bought an iPhone 11 last week and exchanged it for an iPhone 11 Pro today. Yesterday, I saved a backup of the "old" iPhone on my Windows 10 PC here: \Users\(username)\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup\ (so in Windows File Explorer, I have a folder named "Backup"). Today, I connected my new phone to my PC, opened iTunes, and saw there is no backup available for my Apple ID, which means the "Backup" folder in my PC is my only copy. Is there any way to restore a Windows 10 PC backup to a new iPhone when the backup is not in my iCloud? Thanks for any advice!

iPhone 11, iOS 14

Posted on Nov 12, 2020 6:26 PM

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6 replies

Nov 13, 2020 7:09 AM in response to InaPickle23

The backup must be in exactly the right location:


Backups in Windows 7, 8, or 10 

To find a list of your backups, go to \Users\(username)\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup\

You can also use these steps:

  1. Find the Search bar:
    • In Windows 7, click Start. 
    • In Windows 8, click the magnifying glass in the upper-right corner.
    • In Windows 10, click the Search bar next to the Start button.
  1. In the Search bar, enter %appdata% or %USERPROFILE% (if you downloaded iTunes from the Microsoft Store).
  2. Press Return.
  3. Double-click these folders: "Apple" or "Apple Computer" > MobileSync > Backup. 


The backup itself is a folder with thousands of files, and a name with a long string of seemingly random characters. That whole folder must be inside the Backup folder.


In addition, the backup must have been made with the same version iOS that the backup was with, or made with an older version.

Nov 13, 2020 2:14 PM in response to InaPickle23

When you back up iTunes puts it in the right place. That should be, for you:


\Users\kthug\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup\00008101-001979090E60001E


Note that the “point” version must match. So if you had 14.2 on the iPhone 12 you need 14.2 on the iPhone 11. It’s OK if the iPhone 12 had 14.1 and the 11 14.2, but it can’t be the reverse.

Nov 13, 2020 1:39 PM in response to Carl_Franz

This is the path - C:\Users\kthug\Documents\Apple iPhone Backup\Backup\00008101-001979090E60001E


I bought the iPhone 12 on Wednesday and decided I wanted the 11 Pro instead. I had already activated/set up the 12, so my plan was to save a backup from the 12 on my PC, exchange the phone, and then restore that backup from the 12 to the 11 Pro. They were both updated to iOS14 so I should be good with that, but when I copied the full file path just now I see it's in Documents. I'm going to guess that is not a "valid" location for it? Thinking back, I'm not sure what my thought process was to save it there instead of just a normal backup to my iCloud.

Nov 13, 2020 1:48 PM in response to Lawrence Finch

After reading your response, it looks like my backup is not in the correct location. This is the full file path:

C:\Users\kthug\Documents\Apple iPhone Backup\Backup\00008101-001979090E60001E

I decided to exchange an iPhone 12 for for an 11 Pro (both using OSi 14) and my plan was to save a backup of the 12 to my PC, go exchange the phone, and then restore that backup to the 11 Pro. I'm (obviously :) not really familiar with creating backups - I traded in iPhone 7 for this phone so it's been a REALLY long time since I've needed a backup. I should have taken more time to learn how to do it.

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Restore a backup from Windows 10 PC folder to iPhone? (there is no backup in iTunes/iCloud)

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