Thanks for the tips, but your flashdrive disc lettering is confusing bro, because the first "J" is a command, and the last "J" is the letter of your external drive. In my case: mklink /J "%APPDATA%\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup" "D:\iTunesbackup" first "/J" is the command for creating the link, then at the end i use D:\ because the folder is on the disk D. if your folder is in E:, then change to E: etc etc
another simpler example: mklink /J "%APPDATA%\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup" "E:\Backup" the first "/J" is not the location of any drive, it is just the win command that you must follow/type. It has nothing to do with his external drive location. The "E:\Backup" is where I will put the new back up location.
Thanks for a great video and explanation. My question is - does this work in reverse if you need to restore your iPhone from backup. Will iTunes find its way to the latest backup on the 'E' drive (in your example) via the 'Junction' link. Thanks Chris
It took a little maneuvering since mine wanted to backup to C:Users\me\Apple for some reason but I figured it out. Thank you SO MUCH!!! What a life saver.
Wow! Thank you SO much. I can't believe Apple doesn't allow for changing backup storage location, especially with so many using relatively small SSD's. You made my day.
"Cannot create a file when that file already exists." It gives me this message, but I deleted all the folders and files and even deleted the program itself once. But it still gives me this message.
Aaaah, I eventually got it! I didn't realise the /J had to be /J! I'm a total noob and didn't take notice of you saying it's the link you need. Was because your hard drive was also J I was thinking it all had to match, so I was using /E instead! Hope this helps any other PC illiterate folk, haha. Thanks so much man!
What if I wanted to restore back ? Will you plz write or you had a video for this ? Thank you very much I was struggling for many days finally someone explain so nice n that’s works 100% really appreciate 👌👏
Hey, This is amazing! Thanks. Just a quick question out of curiosity. Would it be different if I Right Clicked>Create Shortcut on the destination Backup folder and moved the shortcut to the original MobileSync folder?
Ok now how using iTunes do we RESTOR from the redirected external drive location. I understand how we save or backup to the external drive, but its useless if I need to restore it, OR WILL THE REDIRECT WORK FOR BACKUP AND RESTORE?
can u explain the " /J " after the mklink command. it it your original backup harddrive or your external harddrive? Or it is the command that all of use need to use?
Thank you very much. Correction: When I opened the short cut back up folder on C. It shows the test file I put it in there and the top address thinks it’s on C/ apple/…backup but it really is not When I removed it from E drive it also was gone from c drive But I still see a problem. When I put something in that short cut, it does move to new location as you mentioned but it is still taking space from my C drive!? I do not want it to be there…
Hi so if any of you cannot find your apple backup folder, it's because of the new update as of late-ish 2020 I think? You will find the backup folder under C:\Users\YourUsername It'll be under the Apple folder.
Hey, I did those processes and I created new backup folder but the old one still exist and I was changed that folder name as backup-old. Now how can I undo that process and download the previous backup? Should I delete the new ones and make the older ones name Backup again? Is that enough?
Thank you so much, after spending a whole day and half backing up and moving files on my MBP, it REFUSES to backup "not enough free space" I have over 300GB of free space on my HD and apparently that's isn't enough. Clearly an apple issue (my iphone is a 256gb) *Eyeroll* thank goodness I still have a working PC to do this backup instead. Thank you soo much.
Hi, i followed all your steps and was successfully able to create a backup. However when i tried to restore the backup on another iphone it goes through the entire process and says “itunes failed to restore the backup because the backup file is corrupt. Please help me out what do i do?
im having trouble getting the CMD prompt to work is it possible for you to make me the script to paste into cmd prompt original folder is C:\Users\Andrew\Apple\MobileSync/Backup new folder is G:\Andrew\itunes\MobileSync/Backup
Apple computer folder is not visible in Roaming Folder of Appdata !! ( Using Windows 10 ) How to go about it ? Thanks a lot Update : In Windows 10 , the folder is located here : C:\Users\\Apple\MobileSync\Backup. Hope it helps . Thanks Update 2 : NOT happening., " Invalid Switch F"" error, where F is the disk where are want to create folder . Super confused I am . Some please help
So I was able to follow this and got everything working. Did the back up and it saved. Now my issue is I am trying to restore my phone using that back up, but itunes doesn't show any back ups to restore. Any ideas or did I lose everything?
It is a symbolic link and when you click on restore it should show the backup directory which is pointing to your new new external drive. Is that not appearing for you?
My backup folder from itunes is at a different location (C:\Users\Musanna\Apple\MobileSync\Backup) and my backup folder is empty too but running the command it says "Cannot create a file when that file already exists." Where am I going wrong? Can anyone help me here?
Didnt work for me. I got the symlink confirmation, but the external backup folder was not created. When I tried to navigate to it from the origin folder, it said it didnt exist. So I manually created the folder, and confirmed it was working. Unfortunately, iTunes still says my drive is full and, oh so helpfully suggests I empty my recycle bin.
You're not explaining that the "J" at the beginning is not the letter of your "stuff" drive. People are typing the first J as whatever their external HDD letter is. Also, you're not telling people about the spaces between bits of the script. My external HDD is my "I" (eye) drive. So this script should work. It has done for me. mklink /J "C:\Users\YourPCUserNameHere\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup" I:\itunesbackup
how do I get a backup file back to itunes? I restored my pc and had my backup file on a flashdrive and when I paste it back in the itunes backup file it don't show in itunes that I have a backup restore point?
mklink /D "C:\Users\amanc\Apple\MobileSync\Backup" "D:\Backup_ipad" run in cmd as admin In case ur backup is created in user not in appdata. i moved to D drive and target folder = D:\Backup_ipad
My command prompt wrote "symbolic link" instead of "Junction" but otherwise seemed to work. I'm also on W10 in 2021 so maybe some things changed by then.
Please help, this didn't work for me. During the backup process, my PC storage maxed out and it seems like the backup cluttered my main storage instead of the F: drive that I'm trying to move it to.
this a problem i am having at the moment! im going to try and do the junction link backwars (from thew external to the local) and see if i have any luck!
well.. I don't have the %APPDATA% Apple Computer directory, so I changed it. This is my succesful result: mklink /J "C:\Users\Bruno Oliveira\Apple\MobileSync\Backup" "D:\iPhone Backup"
The backup is being stored in the original folder (C drive) AND the backup folder which is on D drive. Ive shut down, restarted PC and tried again. No change.
wow why is this so complicated? With all the money Apple makes, they could at least provide the option to select folder to backup in iTunes or have chat support servce to walk you through these things. I havent been able to backup my phone for a long time sine my C: drive doesnt have enough space and Id like to save on my D:
After trying many times. This link worked for me: mklink /J “C:\Users\(PUT YOUR USER NAME HERE)\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup” “D:\Backup” thank you very much!
Yes this video is wildly confusing because it doesn't mention starting Command prompt in Admin, and it's confusing because he uses J drive with J command
Hİ, in my windows 10 pro it is saying that "mklink : The term "mklink" is not recognized as the name of a cmdlet, function, script file, or operable program. Check the spelling of the name, or if a path was included, verify that the path is correct and try again. At line:1 char:1 + mklink /J "C:\Users\tunac\Apple\MobileSync\Backup" "D:\ItunesBackup" + ~~~~~~ + CategoryInfo : ObjectNotFound: (mklink:String) [], CommandNotFoundException + FullyQualifiedErrorId : CommandNotFoundException" Can anyone help me please?
![How to Change iTunes Backup Location in Windows PC 10 [2024]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/iYqGPkySm2s/mqdefault.jpg)
![Backup iPhone (or iPad) on External Hard Drive [for Windows] - Step by Step](/img/n.gif)
Thanks for the tips, but your flashdrive disc lettering is confusing bro, because the first "J" is a command, and the last "J" is the letter of your external drive.
In my case:
mklink /J "%APPDATA%\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup" "D:\iTunesbackup"
first "/J" is the command for creating the link, then at the end i use D:\ because the folder is on the disk D. if your folder is in E:, then change to E: etc etc
Thanks Arif for the explanation.
Thanks this was what confused me at first too
Thanks it was very confusing indeed!
another simpler example:
mklink /J "%APPDATA%\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup" "E:\Backup"
the first "/J" is not the location of any drive, it is just the win command that you must follow/type. It has nothing to do with his external drive location.
The "E:\Backup" is where I will put the new back up location.
Thank you so much you saved me from lot of frustration
All the forums I found couldn’t make it this easy. THANKS!!
2 years later, still relevant. thanks bud, much appreciated!
Thanks for a great video and explanation. My question is - does this work in reverse if you need to restore your iPhone from backup. Will iTunes find its way to the latest backup on the 'E' drive (in your example) via the 'Junction' link.
Thanks
Chris
Thank you so much! I have been trying to do this all night and nothing was working. I am so glad I found this tutorial!
It took a little maneuvering since mine wanted to backup to C:Users\me\Apple for some reason but I figured it out. Thank you SO MUCH!!! What a life saver.
How you figured it out? I have the same issue
Ive been struggling for hours and have been watching so many videos and yours actually helped! Thank youuuu
Wow! Thank you SO much. I can't believe Apple doesn't allow for changing backup storage location, especially with so many using relatively small SSD's. You made my day.
Thank you so much, it helps me a lot.. But I wonder how can I reverse back to normal after I installed a larger Hard Disk?
Half of the videos r fake or promoting unknown app, this video is legit and worked perfectly thanks alot mate
"Cannot create a file when that file already exists." It gives me this message, but I deleted all the folders and files and even deleted the program itself once. But it still gives me this message.
Hello. After i finish my backup. can i delete the shortcuts from the C director?
Aaaah, I eventually got it! I didn't realise the /J had to be /J! I'm a total noob and didn't take notice of you saying it's the link you need. Was because your hard drive was also J I was thinking it all had to match, so I was using /E instead! Hope this helps any other PC illiterate folk, haha. Thanks so much man!
@@zakrhyno does it HAVE to be /J?
Can you pls💜 make a video on how to undo the process to the original location 🥺
Just erase the backup shortcut and make a new file called backup
What if I wanted to restore back ? Will you plz write or you had a video for this ? Thank you very much I was struggling for many days finally someone explain so nice n that’s works 100% really appreciate 👌👏
Hey, This is amazing! Thanks. Just a quick question out of curiosity. Would it be different if I Right Clicked>Create Shortcut on the destination Backup folder and moved the shortcut to the original MobileSync folder?
Hi, it will be also awsome if you could explain how to restore to the original configuration just in case.
Thanks it work ..... the other videos on UA-cam didn’t work
I hope you notice me. I just want to ask how to restore back to my iphone from external storage? Thank you😊
You should be able to hold shit when you click the restore button to choose the backup you want.
TechCoreDuo thank you! It’s work!
ive delted the folder and it still cant create it saying it already exists, also deleted from bin
this fr helped me now i can get ios 15 on my phone!! big thank you!!!!
Great Video, very helpful. Thanks for your time :)
My pleasure!
Can you put the command in your detail?
A helpful youtube tutorial video that gets straight to the point without being unnecessarily 10 minutes long? What's going on?!
you couldn't put the command in the description?
what a useful video, thank u so much.
Ok now how using iTunes do we RESTOR from the redirected external drive location. I understand how we save or backup to the external drive, but its useless if I need to restore it, OR WILL THE REDIRECT WORK FOR BACKUP AND RESTORE?
Very simple explanation! Thank you!
Glad it was helpful!
can u explain the " /J " after the mklink command. it it your original backup harddrive or your external harddrive? Or it is the command that all of use need to use?
The /J is a switch that needs to be entered to create the link. Its all explained in the video. I backup to an external drive.
@@TechCoreDuo Thank you. It works !
Thank you very much. Correction:
When I opened the short cut back up folder on C. It shows the test file I put it in there and the top address thinks it’s on C/ apple/…backup but it really is not
When I removed it from E drive it also was gone from c drive
But I still see a problem. When I put something in that short cut, it does move to new location as you mentioned but it is still taking space from my C drive!? I do not want it to be there…
Thanks, very helpful.
Hi so if any of you cannot find your apple backup folder, it's because of the new update as of late-ish 2020 I think?
You will find the backup folder under C:\Users\YourUsername
It'll be under the Apple folder.
Very helpful, Tried and worked (May 2020) Thanks!
does this work out with the restoration of backups?
Very Great full and clear explanation - Thanks mate :)
thanks man you really helped me
keep up please
Can you put the paths in the description for me? I know to replace the drive names etc but the rest I have to go back n forth.
Thank You Tons for the UPLOAD!!!
Much appreciated!!!!
Our pleasure! Thanks for watching!
Thanks alot man, great videos tutorial, worked so fine !
Is it possible to perform same command to link to My Cloud nas? Thanks
still my Itunes said no enough storage dont know why
Thanks bro it's a really helpful command
You're welcome!
Hi
i am getting the below error while trying to change the back up location , Please help
"Cannot create a file when that file already exists "
Hey, I did those processes and I created new backup folder but the old one still exist and I was changed that folder name as backup-old. Now how can I undo that process and download the previous backup? Should I delete the new ones and make the older ones name Backup again? Is that enough?
Take my like.
Thanks for the most helpful video today! :)
Thank you so much
Your video helped me a lot
Thank you so much, after spending a whole day and half backing up and moving files on my MBP, it REFUSES to backup "not enough free space" I have over 300GB of free space on my HD and apparently that's isn't enough. Clearly an apple issue (my iphone is a 256gb)
*Eyeroll* thank goodness I still have a working PC to do this backup instead. Thank you soo much.
Hi, i followed all your steps and was successfully able to create a backup. However when i tried to restore the backup on another iphone it goes through the entire process and says “itunes failed to restore the backup because the backup file is corrupt. Please help me out what do i do?
im having trouble getting the CMD prompt to work is it possible for you to make me the script to paste into cmd prompt
original folder is C:\Users\Andrew\Apple\MobileSync/Backup
new folder is G:\Andrew\itunes\MobileSync/Backup
My back up location doesn’t show in app data. Its shows in directly on user> apple> mobilesync > backup. Any solution for this?
The best video explaining this
Thanks bro still works
Apple computer folder is not visible in Roaming Folder of Appdata !! ( Using Windows 10 ) How to go about it ? Thanks a lot
Update : In Windows 10 , the folder is located here : C:\Users\\Apple\MobileSync\Backup. Hope it helps . Thanks
Update 2 : NOT happening., " Invalid Switch F"" error, where F is the disk where are want to create folder . Super confused I am . Some please help
I swear this shit works. OMG for a tech idiot like me, this is really simple to understand and best of all it works for me. I am really thankful!!
Thanks bro without this my C drive would be saying 111 GB free of 111 GB
Thanks So Much! My C drive was always full so I put it in a other folder. This video really helped. Thanks
I should copy and paste old backup instead delete ?
Yes, you can. Its not a bad idea to save that also.
So I was able to follow this and got everything working. Did the back up and it saved. Now my issue is I am trying to restore my phone using that back up, but itunes doesn't show any back ups to restore. Any ideas or did I lose everything?
It is a symbolic link and when you click on restore it should show the backup directory which is pointing to your new new external drive. Is that not appearing for you?
My backup folder from itunes is at a different location (C:\Users\Musanna\Apple\MobileSync\Backup) and my backup folder is empty too but running the command it says "Cannot create a file when that file already exists."
Where am I going wrong? Can anyone help me here?
the command im using is this: mklink /J "C:\Users\Musanna\Apple\MobileSync\Backup" "D:\Itunes Backup"
Try to delete the “Backup” folder first and try the command again.
@@TechCoreDuo It worked. I deleted backup folder and tried command again and it worked. Thank you so much
Thank you!!
You're welcome!
Didnt work for me. I got the symlink confirmation, but the external backup folder was not created. When I tried to navigate to it from the origin folder, it said it didnt exist. So I manually created the folder, and confirmed it was working. Unfortunately, iTunes still says my drive is full and, oh so helpfully suggests I empty my recycle bin.
Thank you so much!!
Lifesaver. Thank you so much
You're not explaining that the "J" at the beginning is not the letter of your "stuff" drive. People are typing the first J as whatever their external HDD letter is. Also, you're not telling people about the spaces between bits of the script. My external HDD is my "I" (eye) drive. So this script should work. It has done for me.
mklink /J "C:\Users\YourPCUserNameHere\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup" I:\itunesbackup
it says " local volume are required to complete the operation" why is that?
same
how do I get a backup file back to itunes? I restored my pc and had my backup file on a flashdrive and when I paste it back in the itunes backup file it don't show in itunes that I have a backup restore point?
Thanks.. i just find out this method not working with itunes download from Microsoft Store
Thank you
I did that and i cannot access the doc named Backup (the one that has the shortcut icon) it says that backup folder is unavailable...
mklink /D "C:\Users\amanc\Apple\MobileSync\Backup" "D:\Backup_ipad"
run in cmd as admin
In case ur backup is created in user not in appdata.
i moved to D drive and target folder = D:\Backup_ipad
thanks man
Brilliant solution! Thank you! :-)
In my case,
it state
The system cannot move the file to a different disk drive.
Anyone can help?
Great tip, thank you!!
my MobileSync is not AppData/Roaming, it's in C/User/Local/Apple/MobileSync...? is that the folder?
THANK YOU.
My command prompt wrote "symbolic link" instead of "Junction" but otherwise seemed to work. I'm also on W10 in 2021 so maybe some things changed by then.
That's good to know. I will have to look into this a bit further if I need to make a follow up video.
you are the best!
Thank you very Much
how to fix it is saying LOCAL VOLUMES ARE REQUIERD???
I went into the %appdata% but yet i have no Apple Computer, what do i do?
It’ll be under users, apple, then the mobilesync will be in there
didnt work , typed in comand as per vid.. but the backup folder in mobike sync did not appear and i cant redo it as it says file already created
Try to delete the new folder you created and then try to relink it.
@@TechCoreDuo have the same problem but still didn’t work :(
Mine is
mklink /J “Apple\MobileSync\Backup” “G:\itunesbackup”
saved my life dude
Please help, this didn't work for me. During the backup process, my PC storage maxed out and it seems like the backup cluttered my main storage instead of the F: drive that I'm trying to move it to.
Works. Thank you!
Thanks!
can you also restore your iphone using the backup file from your J drive?
this a problem i am having at the moment! im going to try and do the junction link backwars (from thew external to the local) and see if i have any luck!
Get error mklink not recognized?
excellent
Thanks man :)
the test document doesn't show. does that mean it didn't work?
well.. I don't have the %APPDATA% Apple Computer directory, so I changed it. This is my succesful result:
mklink /J "C:\Users\Bruno Oliveira\Apple\MobileSync\Backup" "D:\iPhone Backup"
tq bruh. u saved my live
Thank you! This helped so much!!
haha was in the middle of trying to get this typed out. thanks for saving me the effort of trial and error.
thanks
The backup is being stored in the original folder (C drive) AND the backup folder which is on D drive. Ive shut down, restarted PC and tried again. No change.
Are you putting in the correct drive letter in the command?
Sussed it, it appears like the backup is stored still in C drive but no space is actually taken up on that drive. So all good. Thanks
Just to clarify.....it appears that the data is in C drive..as you can see it...but it takes up no space and it's actually in D drive.
I keep getting the error "Local volumes are required to complete the operation". I've tried looking it up but can't find a solution :/
I'm facing the same problem. Anyone?
@@dorasteiner419
kashif shakeel
1 second ago
Enter name of your local drive instead of J drive for instance D or E
wow why is this so complicated? With all the money Apple makes, they could at least provide the option to select folder to backup in iTunes or have chat support servce to walk you through these things. I havent been able to backup my phone for a long time sine my C: drive doesnt have enough space and Id like to save on my D:
He sounds like Jim from the office
Cannot create a file when that file already exists. this is always poping out
Blaze Dark delete the backup folder on app data first
@@yosh29rs thank you
After trying many times. This link worked for me:
mklink /J “C:\Users\(PUT YOUR USER NAME HERE)\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup” “D:\Backup”
thank you very much!
Yes this video is wildly confusing because it doesn't mention starting Command prompt in Admin, and it's confusing because he uses J drive with J command
Hİ, in my windows 10 pro it is saying that "mklink : The term "mklink" is not recognized as the name of a cmdlet, function, script file, or operable program. Check the spelling of the name, or if a path was included, verify that the path is correct and try again.
At line:1 char:1
+ mklink /J "C:\Users\tunac\Apple\MobileSync\Backup" "D:\ItunesBackup"
+ ~~~~~~
+ CategoryInfo : ObjectNotFound: (mklink:String) [], CommandNotFoundException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : CommandNotFoundException"
Can anyone help me please?
Type this instead
cmd /c mkLink /J "C:\Users\ENTER YOUR NAME\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup" "D:\Backup"
Accordingly to your info, should be:
cmd /c mkLink /J "C:\Users\tunac\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup" "D:\ItunesBackup"