MobileSync Folder is HUGE

I have a mobilesync folder on my MacBook Pro and it is over 20g and I could really use this space. I have read that I can make this smaller by going on iTunes and going on preferences. I have recently updated to OS X Yosemite and I cannot find it anywhere. Could someone please tell me where I can find this folder or another way for me to reduce the size of this folder. If there is any other way for me to free up some more storage on my MacBook please let me know, I only have about 15g left and I really need more room. Thanks.

This is even bigger problem if you have multiple iOS devices and eg a MacBook with precious SSD space! Eg if you have iPad and iPhone.   If you have another disk where you don't mind the backup going, then there is a solution.   In my case on MacBook Pro I have an internal SSD as well as an internal HDD but for most the HDD would be an external USB drive. Just remember that this would now no longer be part of your time machine!
The solution is described here http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1077298
It can be tricky for us non-tech to get the terminal command exactly correct.   So by way of example in my case the HDD is called "Macintosh HD"
the command that worked for me (AFTER I had copied the MobileSync folder that was on my SSD inside Library/Application Support
AND after I had deleted the MobileSync folder from its original SSD location was this:
ln -s /Volumes/Macintosh\ HD/MobileSync/Backup ~/Library/Application\ Support/MobileSync
I tested it, and now /Library/Application Support still contains a folder, but it is only a shortcut to the real data.
I am not sure how MobileSync works longterm as that backup folder seems suspiciously big.   I am probably going to manually copy the mobilesyn to another network drive, then do a delete backup through iTunes, then backup again after I've cleaned up my phone a bit.   Remember that you can also delete old phone backups via iTunes in case like many you are on your Nth iphone...

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I have a 30 GB MobileSync folder and no room on my drive

can i delete the older folders in this MobileSync folder and just leave the most recent?
all these folders have gibberish names and 30 GB is a huge amount of space to take up on my drive.
THANKS

Howdy hotweheels22,
If I understand correctly you are concerned about the amount of space being taken up by the Mobilesync folder on your computer. This is where your backups for your iOS devices are stored.
iTunes: About iOS backups
Where are iTunes backups stored on your computer
The folder where your backup data is stored depends on your computer's operating system. Make sure the backup folder is included in your data-backup routine. iTunes places the backup files in these places:
Mac: ~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/
The "~" represents your Home folder. If you don't see Library in your Home folder, hold Option and click the Go menu.
If you want you can delete some of these you can do so with this info from the same article:
Delete a backup in iTunes
If you want to delete a backup created by iTunes, follow these steps:
Open iTunes Preferences:
Windows: Choose Edit > Preferences.
Mac: Choose iTunes > Preferences.
Click Devices (the iOS device doesn't need to be connected).
iTunes will show the phone number, IMEI, and serial number of the backed up iPhone when you position your mouse pointer over a backup (iTunes shows only the serial number for iPad and iPod touch). You can use this to find the backup you want to delete.
Select the backup you want to remove and click Delete Backup.
Confirm you wish to remove the selected backup by clicking Delete Backup.
Click OK to close the iTunes Preferences Window.
Backups that have a date and time stamp in the backup name are copies of backups created by restoring the iOS device. The date and time in the left column are when the restore-from-backup occurred. The date and time in the right column are the last synced date; this shows how current the data is.
Thank you for using Apple Support Communities.
Regards,
Sterling

I don't have a Mobilesync folder

Hi! I recently got an iPad mini. I'd like to delete the Mobilesync folder on my Macbook because the iPad takes so much space.
I know Mobilesync is supposed to be under the "Application Support" folder but Mobilesync wasn't there when I checked out the Application Support of my laptop.
Help, please! Thanks in advance!

No you don't want to delete the MobileSync folder because that is where your backup is stored.
You probably have way more junk on your Mac than that MobileSync folder accounts for in storage capacity anyway. Get an external drive and copy some of your infrequently used files onto the external drive and leave the MobileSync folder in place.
If you insist, this is where the folder should be.
iTunes places the backup files in the following places:
Mac: ~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/

I cannot find MobileSync folder under ApplicationSupport after I backup my iphone on iOS 10.9.5

I backup my iphone 5 to my Mac iOS 10.9.5, after backup cannot find MobileSync folder under Library/ApplicationSupport

redwise wrote:
This actually did not help me, but I can't figure out how to delete my response. I don't have a mobile sync folder and I do not understand what is meant by "Go menu."
The Go menu is the 5th one (from the left)
you do have a mobile sync folder
And you can not delete your response.

What exactly is in that MobileSync folder?

Hi all,
I have been attempting to clear up some of that mysterious "other" that's taking up a large chunk of my MBP's storage. Based on this link, http://appletoolbox.com/2014/02/mac-os-x-what-is-other-storage-and-how-to-remove /, I found that I've got ~16gb hanging around in the MobileSync folder. I'd like to know what I'm getting rid of before I actually delete it all. Anyone know?
Thanks for any help!

The MobileSync folder usually contains iPhone, iPad and iPod touch backups made with iTunes, so if you do not need them and they do not have any data you may need, you can remove them. To do that, open iTunes and go to iTunes menu (in the menu bar) -> Preferences -> Devices.

Cannot find mobilesync folder on my mac os

I've backed up my iphone several times and followed instructions on finding the sms backup files but cannot find the mobilesync folder for the life of me... It is simply not there it appears, not under the only user on the mac (both user name and the "shared") or in general Library folder...
Attached is a screenshot of the folders. Any ideas..?
Thanks for any help you can offer, I'm fairly novice Mac user having used PC's most of my life

Yo 'nycetouch'
In my perspective, I beleieve you are opening the Finder App from your Dock and seraching for /Users/<your user name>/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup
Its imperative that you should be seraching in the GO option on the top.
If you are not able to find GO on the top. Quit all the opened applications to find the GO
or
Doulbe tap or double left click into the Desktop screen to find GO
Under GO click on Go to Folder, in that paste
/Users/<your user name>/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup
In my case,
/Users/Boo/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup.
It took me a while to find the GO option. I must work. Im eager to know how you are going.
JimHDK,
You are a life saver. Your instructions were really helpful.
Thanks again mate!!

Location of MobileSync folder

i had to run whatsize again to figure out what my 250 GB hard drive is being spent on and i see once again that i have 25 GB in my MobileSync folder. i would like to put an alias of this folder on my desktop so i can empty it periodically but i can't seem to find it.
i tried to go to the Go menu in Finder and then to the Library which will show up after i hold down the Option key but i can't seem to find it.
anyone know where this things is? i am not going to ask if there is a way to keep this folder from filling up but if this is possible i would like to prevent it from happening so i don't have to fix it manually.

Hi,
It's in your Home folder Library, Applications support. However, you should not interfere with the contents of this folder in Finder. The place to delete backups is in iTunes Preferences/Devices.
In the Go pulldown Go to folder you find it like this:
~/Library/application support/MobileSync

Do I still need the MobileSync folder now that my backups are in iCloud?

Now that my iPad and iPhone back up to iCloud and not iTunes do I still need the very large device backups that live in the MobileSync folder? My folder is about 10GB and on my 256GB MacBook Air I'd like to reclaim that space if possible.
Any expertise is appreciated! I'll try moving the files to my external and seeing if anything goes horribly wrong.
Best, Alex

Update
I copied my mobile device backups to an external drive then deleted them from the iTunes device preference panel. Then I sync'd (iTunes Wi-Fi sync) my iPhone - no new backup was created!
Looks like my theory was correct and I was able to reclaim that 10GB of drive space.

Wheres has MobileSync folder gone?

Hi,
I'm trying to located the MobileSync folder on my MacBook Pro OSX 10.7.4 (Lion).
I'm aware that Lion hides the library folder and i know how to find it, but when i get to it theres no MobileSyc folder.
Ive searched through the forums and everyone says its here: /Users/USERNAME/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup, but its not. When im logged in as me, I can get to Library/Application Support but then theres no MobileSync folder. If i go to another user (where the backup i need to restore is) theres not even a Library folder.
I really need the backup from an iPhone 4s - Any ideas?
Thanks!!

This folder contains the backups for your iOS devices. You can delete this folder, but then you will not be able to restore from backup should the occasion arise. If you want to shrink the size of the folder, delete unwanted apps, etc... from your devices. If you delete the folder, the next time you sync your iOS devices iTunes will attempt to make a new backup anyway so there isn't really a way around it. I have an iphone and an ipad and my folder is about 5GB. My suggestion is to buy a larger hard drive.

I have a Probook running 10.7.5 and have compressed the 60Gb MobileSync folder into a zip file that is... 60Gb, the original file is still there so I have just lost another 60Gb of space. What's going on?

I have a Probook running 10.7.5 and have compressed the 60Gb MobileSync folder into a zip file that is... 60Gb, the original file is still there so I have just lost another 60Gb of space. What's going on?

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Lightroom backups folder. Huge size.

In "My Pictures" is a folder called Lightroom, where all the catalogues and backups are stored. A while ago, I had a major crash on the computer and lost everything on my hard disc. I was able to restore most from my external hard drive.
Now, in the Lightroom folder I have the following folders:
Backups - this is 11.7 gb and contains multiple back ups. Can I safely delete some of the older ones?
Lightroom 2 catalogue - size greater than 97 gb. This has masses of backups inside it going back to 2008. Also inside this folder is a Lightroom previews lrdata file of 7.7gb and a Lightroom 2 catalogue of 1.44 gb
Lightroom 2 catalogue previews.lrdata with a number of folders 0-9 and A-F in it. 8.7 gb
Lightroom 3 catalogue previews. lrdata. Same as above but for LR3. 513 mb
Lightroom catalogue previews.lrdata This probably relates to LR1 and appears to be empty.
Lightroom previews.lrdata Again seems to relate to LR1 and is empty.
Lightroom settings That's OK
Lightroom 3 backups That's OK too.
All the above are shown as folders. the next lot show as single sheets of paper, if that makes sense to you.
Lightroom 2 catalogue 1.49 gb
Lightroom 3 catalogue 41mb
Lightroom 3 catalogue 2 261mb
Lightroom 3 catalogue 2.lrcat-journal
When using LR3, I have not integrated the LR2 catalogue. LR3 has only a small number of photos in it. This was advised somewhere. I read a post in this forum a few days ago suggesting that the LR files should not be so large as these are. I have a total of about 12,500 photos in the catalogue.
Which files can I delete? All the LR1 files? Old backups, keeping just the latest of each LR2 and LR3?
Why do I seem to be getting multiple backups in different folders?
I am not a computer wizard. My understanding is limited and I don't want to delete data that should not be deleted but this does seem to be using a huge amount of disc space.
JW

Many thanks. I back up weekly or more often to an external drive, including all the LR files so I feel reasonably happy about them being on the same disc. I can get rid of masses of old backups, then. That should release some disc space.
JW

Render Files Folder is HUGE!

I am currently working on a photo slideshow in Final Cut Pro X. When I opened up the Finder, I noticed that I only had 30 GB of space available. I was surprised since I had over 70 GB just a few days ago. I then noticed that in my project's folder, there was a folder called "Render Files" that is OVER 50 GB! I don't really understand this, as all of my photos came from an 8 GB SD card. Is there a reason this folder is so big? It also seems that as I add Ken Burns to photos, the folder keeps growing. Even as the percent rendered goes up, the folder doesn't shrink.

Try to Delete Project Render Files, FCPX will rebuild what it needs.
The huge sizes may be due to the animating of the pics to generate the KB effect of lots of photos.
If you have any other FCPX projects you could clean their Render Files up, just to give some breathing room for your current project.
P.S. I just upgraded my MacBook HD today. 750GB/7200RPM.

MobileSync folder location

I currently have to use my work laptop (XP machine) in order to use iTunes to sync my iPhone (my main machine runs Linux) and it works fine.
The problem is that we have a 20MB limit on our profile space ('Documents and Settings' folder) as it gets synced with a server when we log in or out. Everytime I connect my iPhone the backup that is created puts me over my limit by 90MB which means I cannot shutdown or reboot my computer until I free up some space. This basically involves deleting the iPhone backup pretty much as soon as it is created.
My question is, is there a way to change the default location that iTunes uses to store the backup? I just need to store it anywhere other than the 'Documents and Settings' folder. Failing that is there any way to disable the backup feature completely?
Failing that, is there any plans for a Linux version of iTunes
Cheers.

Thanks for the info, I've already moved my iTunes folder over to a network drive. I have about 250 photos that I've taken currently on my phone which is probably why it's 90MB but even if I did manage to get it down to 6MB it would put me over my 20MB profile limit.

My Application Support folder is huge

Get Info says folder size is 31Gb, yet I cannot find any files in any folder that are creating this size. Can files/folders be hidden? I have used the file unhide command in terminal, still cannot see any big files.

Try using OmniDiskSweeper to see the whole story (free)
Note that it will only show user files for the logged-in user, so more than one account may require it to be run from each.
Macintosh HD / Application Support does tend to be one of the biggest folders. Data for GagageBand, iPhoto and others can be pretty large.

Download iPhoto to lightroom? when masters folder is huge?

https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom/help/import-iphoto.html Here are the directions.... but I'm lost at step one.
Background....
CC new subscriber. Mac up to date.
1st time ever to use lightroom & photoshop. Trying for over 12 hours. Ready to throw it all out the window & wondering why the heck did I ever spend this much money on something. Watched about 45 how-to videos.
I am completely missing something.
I just want onen little file pictures to be put in lightroom. When I turned my head, I had 4,386 download from my pictures folder on my hardrive; none that I wanted. So I clicked them and pressed remove.
SO..... Now when I go to find Lightroom using the magnifying glass....
I see this: <there should be a picture here!>
I really don't care what! I just want my little file from iphoto called WVLHS to be in lightroom so I can edit these stinkin' pictures. UGH!!!!!!!!
Begging for help.
From a kindergarten teacher who REALLY has to begin to learn to say NO when people ask me to do things at the last minute and I have NO idea what I am doing!
This doesn't even come close to what I'm trying to do... this was supposed to be the EASY PART!!!!
Here are the directions I am trying to follow......
To import photos from iPhoto into Lightroom, first you have to help Lightroom find the original photos, which are hidden in a package file. Then, you can copy or add the photos to a Lightroom catalog just like you would import any other photos from a folder on your computer.
Note: These instructions are for iPhoto '11 version 9.2.
In the Finder, navigate to your iPhoto package file. By default, it's located in /Users/[user name]/Pictures, and it's called iPhoto Library.
Control-click the iPhoto Library file and choose Show Package Contents.
A Finder window opens that shows the contents of the package file. The Masters folder contains all of the photos that are in iPhoto. However, Lightroom cannot access this folder.
Control-click the folder named Masters and choose Duplicate.
<<<<<<ACK! I CAN'T IT SAYS THERE ISN'T ENOUGH ROOM.....!>>>>>>
It's listed by years....is there a way to just do the last year?
When I did; it began to copy right away, I couldn't go onto the next step.
Drag the folder named "Masters copy" from the iPhoto Library Finder window to your Desktop.Lightroom can see this folder.
Open Lightroom and drag the Masters copy folder into the Grid view of the Library module.The import window opens, with your iPhoto files selected in the preview area. By default, Lightroom wants to Add these photos to your catalog. Select Copy or Move, if preferred, and specify the destination folder and other options in the panels on the right side of the import window.

Hi Kglad,
Thanks for the response!
When I click it to follow the directions, it immediately begins to make a copy. It won't let me put it anywhere. For example; on the picture, do you see where it says 2014 copy 2? That's what started to happen when I went to follow these directions: < Control-click the folder named Masters and choose Duplicate.>
Do I just wait for it to finish & then scoot that copy folder over there?
Thanks!

MobileSync Folder is HUGE

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