Syncing apps in folders

i recently set up my iphone on a new laptop and have transefered all purchases and managed to syn everything apart from the apps. if i select the apps to sync it removes them from the folders i have set up. is there any wasy of backing it up exaclty as it is on my phone at the moment?
any help will be much appreciated

By design, the iphone will sync itunes content with one computer at a time. Any attempt to sync such content with a second computer will result in all itunes content being first erased from your phone & then replaced with the content from the second computer. This is a design feature and cannot be overridden. Since you have all of your content on your new computer, you won't lose any content, since you'll be in a position to sync it back. To preserve your app data & layout, do the following:
1. Disable auto sync when an ipod/iphone is connected under preferences in itunes(under the edit menu if using windows).
2. Make sure you have one contact entry and one calendar entry in whatever supported applications you use on your computer. These entries can be fake, doesn't matter. The important point is that these applications not be empty.
3. Connect your phone, DO NOT SYNC, at this point.
4. Store>Authorize this Computer...make sure your computer is authorized.
5. File>Transfer Purchases...make sure all purchased content on your phone is in your itunes library.
6. Right click in the device pane & select "Reset Warnings".
7. Right click again & select "Backup".
8. Right click again & select 'Restore from Backup", select the backup you just made. If prompted to create another backup, decline.
9. Follow this by syncing to restore your itunes content, which you'll select from the various tabs. This should restore all of your apps & the folders they were in as well as preserve your app data.
10. If you get a popup regarding your contacts & calendars asking to merge or replace, select merge.

Similar Messages

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    Terry, East Grinstead, UK

    Judging from the several threads that I have read about this, my best guess would be you have a 50/50 chance of syncing without the folders being destroyed or rearranged. Why don't you do a search in the upper right area of this site and type in "folders destroyed when syncing" or some variation of that wording and see what you can find.
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    We should all know there are screens off to the right of the valid eleven home pages. If your last page is full of icons and you inadvertently add another something is shoved off to the right. If you move home screens around using iTunes this also happens.
    If any icon filled with apps falls off to the right it will unpack and make a mess. If you move a home page filled with folders which are filled with icons around you can lose them all as they will unpack when you sync to iTunes.
    The best choice is to take the right most page and MAKE SURE NO FOLDERS ARE EVER IN THE RIGHT MOST PAGE. That gives you safety room from inadvertently scooting one or more folders into higher number screens. I place a few standard apps in the right most page to hold it in place.
    CREATING FOLDERS
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    Apps from ****
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    Message was edited by: Leon49

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    2. Does anyone know a way that does not require accessing the old itunes that would allow me to keep my folders and data?
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    We should all know there are screens off to the right of the valid eleven home pages. If your last page is full of icons and you inadvertently add another something is shoved off to the right. If you move home screens around using iTunes this also happens.
    If any icon filled with apps falls off to the right it will unpack and make a mess. If you move a home page filled with folders which are filled with icons around you can lose them all as they will unpack when you sync to iTunes.
    The best choice is to take the right most page and *MAKE SURE NO FOLDERS ARE EVER IN THE RIGHT MOST PAGE*. That gives you safety room from inadvertently scooting one or more folders into higher number screens. I place a few standard apps in the right most page to hold it in place.
    *CREATING FOLDERS*
    Second you are safer building your folders on the device itself. To do this I move everything off the bottom bar and use it as a placeholder (bus)to shuttle apps around as I figure out what group they should be added to. I have over 800 apps in 22 GB on the iPad now. Things are well organized and nice looking when scanning the home pages.
    When setting it up I just added all the apps at once. Then as I made room on the home screens I paused made sure my 'bus' was empty, then shut down the iPad to power off and back on again. This cleans up memory and on reboot the iPad will add as many of the hidden apps to the space on your eleven home pages. There after it became a session of rinse and repeat until all the apps I wanted where filed away and arranged.
    Use meaningful folder names.
    *Apps from *****
    There are some real junk apps that some how I managed to grab in the past. Others are surpassed by obviously more powerful and functional apps that have recently appeared so there is no sense in keeping them. If you delete them off the iPad they will reappear on the next sync unless you delete them from iTunes.
    How do you remember to delete them from iTunes too? When I get to the delete confirmation screen I take a screenshot which is stored in my Photos roll. Then I browse that roll while before the computer and find each app that needs to be permanently deleted. After deleting it from the PC I then delete the reminder picture from the iPad.

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