Delete old iPhone backups in iTunes - Here's how

iTunes creates backups of your iPhone at regular intervals. But unfortunately you have to delete the old memory guzzlers yourself. We'll show you how and where you can find the data.

Delete outdated backups with iTunes

The fastest way to delete old iPhone and iPad backups in iTunes is:

1. Click on the rectangular symbol in the upper left corner and select the "Settings" item.
2. Switch to the "Devices" tab. Here you will find all of your saved backups. Mark the old backup copies and then click on "Delete backup".
3. Warning: For security reasons, keep at least one backup of your iDevice on the computer.

For security: Find iPhone backups in Explorer

If iTunes does not show you any backups, there are in most cases no more. You can also make sure of yourself again in the backup folder.

1. To do this, open the path "C: \ Users \ (username) \ AppData \ Roaming \ Apple Computer \ MobileSync \ Backup" in Windows 7.
2. Under Windows XP you will find the data in the folder "C: \ Documents and Settings \ (username) \ Application Data \ Apple Computer \ MobileSync \ Backup"
3. Mac users, on the other hand, open the path "~ / Library / Application Support / MobileSync / Backup" in the Finder.
4. Again, be sure to check the backup creation date before deleting it. In the worst case, you could be dependent on it.

Exclusive CHIP special: create backups quickly and easily

We'll show you how to back up your computer easily and effortlessly so that you don't lose your digital treasures in an accident. Our CHIP Guide contains 39 pages of tips and tricks for the best backup strategy.

• The CHIP editorial team explains how you can make backup copies as quickly as possible and how you can ideally outsource them. Is the hard drive the ideal medium or are there better alternatives? We show where you can best archive your data.
• In the CHIP kiosk you can download the CHIP guide as a PDF

As of iOS 5, you can also save your backups in iCloud. Read on the next page whether this is worthwhile for you.