How to Back Up iPhone to External Hard Drive (Ultimate Guide)

Our iPhones are no longer just phones. Our most treasured memories, important papers, and private data are kept in them. Because of this, it’s important to regularly back up your iPhone to keep your info safe. You can back up your info easily with iCloud, but you might want to have a physical backup on an external hard drive. We will look at many ways and tools in this guide to help you learn how to back up iPhone to External Hard drive.

Benefits of Backing Up to an External Hard Drive

Before we talk about the different ways to back up your iPhone, let’s talk about why you might want to use a portable hard drive. Even though iCloud is a good cloud-based backup service, having a real backup on an external hard drive has a number of benefits:

Increased Control: With an external hard drive, you have full control over where and how your data is stored. You’re not reliant on a third-party service and can easily access your backup whenever needed.
Protection from Data Loss: Storing your backup on an external hard drive provides an extra layer of protection against data loss. In the event of a device failure or a lost/stolen phone, you can quickly restore your data from the external hard drive.
Faster and More Reliable: Backing up to an external hard drive can be faster and more reliable than relying on cloud-based backups, especially if you have a large amount of data to back up.

How to Back Up iPhone to External Hard Drive?

Now that we understand the benefits, let’s explore different methods to back up your iPhone to an external hard drive on both Mac and Windows systems.

Method 1: Backing Up iPhone to External Hard Drive on Mac

If you own a Mac, you’re in luck because Apple devices are designed to work seamlessly together. Here’s how you can back up your iPhone to an external hard drive on a Mac:

Step 1: Back Up Your iPhone to Mac

First, you’ll need to back up your iPhone to your Mac. Here’s a step-by-step guide:

Connect both your iPhone and the external hard drive to your Mac.
Open Finder by pressing Option+Command+Space and select “Location” from the left panel. Choose your iPhone and click “Trust” to establish a connection.

On the “General” tab, select “Back up all the data on your iPhone to this Mac.”
Click “Apply” to start the backup process.

Step 2: Transfer the iPhone Backup to the External Hard Drive

Now that you have successfully backed up your iPhone to your Mac, it’s time to transfer the backup to the external hard drive. Follow these steps:

Click on “Manage Backups” in the Finder window.

Control-click on the backup you created and select “Show in Finder.”
Control-click on the backup folder and choose “Copy.”

Select the external hard drive from the left panel and click “Paste” to transfer the backup to the external hard drive.

Method 2: Backing Up iPhone to External Hard Drive Using iTunes

If you’re running an earlier version of iOS and macOS, you can still back up your iPhone to an external hard drive using iTunes. Here’s how:

Open the iTunes app on your Mac.
Connect your iPhone to the external hard drive using a USB cable.
In the iTunes app, click on the “Device” icon in the bottom left corner.
From the “Automatically Back Up” menu, pick “This Computer.”
To start backing up from your iPhone to your computer, click the “Back Up Now” button.
After completing the backup process, go to the iTunes tab and select “Preferences.”
Click on the “Devices” tab and locate the backup you just created.
Control-click on the backup and select “Show in Finder” to reveal the backup folder.
Copy the backup folder, open the external hard drive, create a destination folder, and paste the backup into it.

Method 3: Backing Up iPhone to External Hard Drive on Windows PC

The next method of how to back up iPhone to External Hard drive is using Windows PC. It is also possible to back up your iPhone to an external hard drive if you are using a Windows PC. Here is a simple way to do it:

Plug the external hard drive into your computer.
Open File Explorer and locate the external hard drive.
Click on the external hard drive and click on the “New Folder” button in the top toolbar.
Name the new folder “iPhone Backup.”

Open the iTunes app on your Mac.
Connect your iPhone to the external hard drive using a USB cable.
In the iTunes app, click on the “Device” icon in the top left corner.
Under the “Automatically Back Up” menu, select “This Computer.”
Click on the “Back Up Now” button to initiate the backup process from your iPhone to the computer.
After completing the backup process, type “%appdata%\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup” in Windows File Explorer. This will take you directly to the folder that contains the backup you just created.
Locate the newly created backup folder using the “Date Modified” column.
Right-click on the folder, select “Copy,” go to the “iPhone Backup” folder on the external hard drive, and click “Paste.”
Following these steps, you can create a backup of your iPhone on an external hard drive using a Windows PC.

Method 4: Backing Up iPhone to External Hard Drive Without a Computer

If you don’t have access to a computer, you can still back up your iPhone to an external hard drive using a USB-to-lightning adapter. Here’s how:

Connect your iPhone to the external hard drive using the adapter.
Wait for a notification indicating that your iPhone has detected the hard drive.
Open your iPhone and select the files you’d like to back up.
Tap the Share icon and choose the external hard drive as the destination.

In Closing

Making a copy of your info on your iPhone to an external hard drive is a great way to keep it safe. There are different ways to make a physical backup, no matter if you’re using a Mac or a Windows PC. Following the steps in this guide will allow you to safely back up your iPhone to an external hard drive, giving you peace of mind that your important data is safe.

Remember that backing up your iPhone regularly is important to keep your info safe, so make it a habit. With the ease and dependability of an external hard drive backup, you can be sure that the data on your iPhone is safe.