Backing up an Apple iOS device is not that easy, as Apple restricts direct access to the data stored on your iPhone or iPad, so as to protect your privacy. However, iTunes can back up your iOS devices to a default location on your computer’s system drive. But what about backing up your iPhone or iPad to an external drive, a specific folder or partition?
When you backup your iOS device using iTunes, the backup data is automatically saved to your local drive on your computer. The multiple backups produced by the iTunes tend to take considerable disk space, so users with a limited storage space on their computer usually run into problems when backing up their iPhone or iPad. Then, they might want to store them on an alternate disk (external hard drive), so they can save a considerable amount of space on their machine. This can be done by a third-party app called iMazing, a popular iOS device manager that allows you to easily back up your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch, without using iTunes. It also allows you to manage the files and data on your device.
iMazing’s backup management features are 100% free. With iMazing, you can easily set a backup location, and make safer backups which are not overwritten. iMazing tracks changes in your backups, which lets you keep many backups of a device at a fraction of the disk usage cost. And if needed, you can even set a different backup location for each of your devices.
How to backup your iPhone or iPad to an External Hard Drive on Windows:
Before we begin, make sure you now have iMazing installed on your computer. Download iMazing for your PC from here.
Step 1: First, connect your iPhone or iPad to your Windows computer and then open iMazing on your computer
Step 2: Once iMazing detects your device, the first thing you have to do is to change the location where you want to save your iPhone or iPad backup (by default, your backup is saved on your computer’s hard drive)
To change your device’s backup location:
- In the left sidebar, select your device.
- In the main window, click the cogwheel icon next to your device’s name, to open your device’s settings.
- In the Device Options window, click on the ‘Change’ button next to ‘Backup Location.’
- Select a disk that contains your iPhone or iPad backup, or click ‘Choose a custom location’ to choose a specific folder on the external drive where backups should be saved.
- Click Done. You have now set the new backup location for that device.
- Again, click on the Done button to close the device settings.
Step 3: To take a backup, click on the Back-Up button.
Step 4: From the list of backup options, select your options and hit the Back-Up button in the bottom right corner.
iMazing will now start backing up your iPhone or iPad to the connected external hard drive. It can take anywhere between a couple of minutes to an hour to backup your iOS device, depending on the amount of data on your device. Once done, your backup will be saved in a folder created on your external hard drive called “iMazing.Backups.” Avoid deleting this folder or modifying any of its files as it can cause your backups to become corrupted.
NOTE:
- The first time you back up a device, iMazing will automatically display backup location options.
- Changing your backup location will only affect future backups. It will not move existing backups to the new backup location.
- Changing your iMazing backup location will not affect your iTunes backups’ location.
How to Restore Your iPhone or iPad From a Backup Using iMazing
Step 1: The first step is to turn off ‘Find My iPhone.’ To do so, launch the Settings app from your home screen and then tap on your profile on the top. Next, go to iCloud > Find My iPhone and toggle it off.
Step 2: Connect your iOS device to your computer and then open iMazing.
Step 3: Select your device from the left-sidebar and click on ‘Restore a Backup’
Step 4: iMazing displays a list of all the backups that have been found for your device. Click on the backup that you wish to restore, then click ‘Choose’ button in the bottom right corner.
NOTE: If you wish to handpick the apps and data that should be restored to your device, then click on either of the Customize buttons.
Step 5: After that, hit the Next button and click on Restore to confirm.
NOTE: If your backup is encrypted, you will need your backup password to initiate a restore. Enter your password and click OK.
iMazing will now begin the restore process and it may take a while depending how much data you want to restore.
Conclusion:
Now you can backup your iOS devices data to external hard drive with ease.
