Uploaded April 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Is Macintosh HD full? It could be your iOS devices are eating up all your internal storage.
In this video I show you how to move those iOS backups off your Mac and onto one external drive using a simple symbolic link (shortcut). Once it’s set up, your current and future backups go to the external drive automatically.
Important notes / gotchas:
• This is for Mac local backups (Finder / Apple Devices). iCloud backups are separate.
• Your external drive should be APFS (not exFAT).
• Don’t rename the external drive after setup (it can break the path).
• Make sure the external drive is mounted before backing up, or macOS may create a new internal backup folder again.
📄 Prefer a written guide? Grab my step-by-step PDF here (only $7):
macsound2.gumroad.com/l/wjezeg
AOHi 280W charger: tidd.ly/48kE2kc
AOHi website (USB4 cables, power banks + more): tidd.ly/4cMS9S0
5 Terabyte drive for backups amzn.to/4sO7Opa
6TB Seagate Expansion External Hard Drive amzn.to/4cO1oRT
Chapters:
00:00 Intro: Why move iPhone/iPad backups off your Mac
01:00 What we’re doing (copy MobileSync + symlink overview)
01:49 Sponsor: AOHi 280W desktop charger
03:05 Step 1: Format external drive as APFS (GUID)
04:40 Step 2: Name your iPhone/iPad (identify backups)
05:45 Step 3: Show the hidden User Library folder
07:35 Step 4: Copy the MobileSync folder to the external drive
10:35 Step 5: Create the symbolic link (Terminal ln -s)
12:58 Rename internal MobileSync folder (don’t delete yet)
13:31 Step 6: Move the symlink into Application Support
14:24 Step 7: Delete old internal MobileSync (after reboot)
15:21 Encrypting backups + managing/archiving backups
18:36 Gotchas: Don’t rename the drive / don’t move the folder
19:22 Outro
#mac #iphone #backup #ssd #iosbackup
Is Macintosh HD full? It could be your iOS devices are eating up all your internal storage.
In this video I show you how to move those iOS backups off your Mac and onto one external drive using a simple symbolic link (shortcut). Once it’s set up, your current and future backups go to the external drive automatically.
Important notes / gotchas:
• This is for Mac local backups (Finder / Apple Devices). iCloud backups are separate.
• Your external drive should be APFS (not exFAT).
• Don’t rename the external drive after setup (it can break the path).
• Make sure the external drive is mounted before backing up, or macOS may create a new internal backup folder again.
📄 Prefer a written guide? Grab my step-by-step PDF here (only $7):
macsound2.gumroad.com/l/wjezeg
AOHi 280W charger: tidd.ly/48kE2kc
AOHi website (USB4 cables, power banks + more): tidd.ly/4cMS9S0
5 Terabyte drive for backups amzn.to/4sO7Opa
6TB Seagate Expansion External Hard Drive amzn.to/4cO1oRT
Chapters:
00:00 Intro: Why move iPhone/iPad backups off your Mac
01:00 What we’re doing (copy MobileSync + symlink overview)
01:49 Sponsor: AOHi 280W desktop charger
03:05 Step 1: Format external drive as APFS (GUID)
04:40 Step 2: Name your iPhone/iPad (identify backups)
05:45 Step 3: Show the hidden User Library folder
07:35 Step 4: Copy the MobileSync folder to the external drive
10:35 Step 5: Create the symbolic link (Terminal ln -s)
12:58 Rename internal MobileSync folder (don’t delete yet)
13:31 Step 6: Move the symlink into Application Support
14:24 Step 7: Delete old internal MobileSync (after reboot)
15:21 Encrypting backups + managing/archiving backups
18:36 Gotchas: Don’t rename the drive / don’t move the folder
19:22 Outro
#mac #iphone #backup #ssd #iosbackup
