Photos and Videos
Every photo and video in the backup, including capture dates and the location a photo was taken. Save any of them straight to your computer.
iPhone Backup Viewer for Windows
How to View and Extract an iPhone Backup on Your PC
Your iPhone quietly saves a full backup to your computer and Apple gives you no way to look inside it. Sherlock Forensics iOS Analyzer opens that backup on Windows so you can finally see your photos, messages and files.
An iPhone backup is a full copy of your phone stored on your computer, but Apple provides no viewer to open it. Sherlock Forensics iOS Analyzer reads the backup on Windows and shows your photos, messages, contacts, call history and app data. Preview it free, then export what you need.
Free preview | Windows 10 and 11 | No subscription
The Problem
Why You Cannot Just Open an iPhone Backup
When you back up an iPhone to a computer, Apple does not save your photos as photos and your messages as readable text. It saves thousands of files with long scrambled names and your actual data lives inside databases buried in that pile. Open the backup folder yourself and you see nonsense.
The Apple Devices app and iTunes can only make a backup or restore one onto a phone. Neither one lets you look inside and pull out a single photo or one conversation. That gap is exactly what Sherlock Forensics iOS Analyzer fills. It reads the backup, decodes the scrambled files and lays your data out in plain views you can actually read.
What You Get Back
What Sherlock Forensics Reads From Your Backup
Messages
iMessage and text conversations rebuilt as threads you can read top to bottom, with the photos and attachments people sent you.
Contacts
Your full address book with phone numbers and email addresses, ready to export so you never lose a number again.
Call History
Who you called and who called you, with dates and durations, so you can reconstruct when a conversation happened.
Safari History
Websites visited, searches and bookmarks from the backup, useful when you are trying to find a page you know you opened.
App and Chat Data
Data from apps that Apple includes in the backup, such as WhatsApp conversations, Notes, Calendar and voice memos.
An encrypted backup carries even more, including saved Wi-Fi passwords and health data, because Apple only stores those when the backup is encrypted. If your backup is not encrypted you still get your photos, messages, contacts and the rest of the everyday data.
Step by Step
How to View Your iPhone Backup
- Make or find a backupBack up your iPhone to the computer with the Apple Devices app or iTunes or use a backup you already made. On Windows it is saved under your user folder in Apple, then MobileSync, then Backup.
- Download the free viewerInstall Sherlock Forensics iOS Analyzer for Windows. It takes a couple of minutes and needs no account to start.
- Open the backup folderPoint the viewer at your backup. It reads the backup in place and never changes it. If the backup is encrypted, enter the backup password you set.
- Browse everythingScroll and search your photos, messages, contacts, call history and app data in plain, readable views.
- Export what mattersSave photos and export messages or contacts to your computer. The free edition previews every view. The Full Edition opens the whole backup.
Straight Answers
What This Can and Cannot Do
It works when
- You already have a backup on the computer. The viewer opens it with no phone needed.
- Your iPhone still powers on and you can unlock it. Make a fresh backup, then open it.
- Your backup is encrypted and you know its backup password.
It cannot
- Open an encrypted backup when you do not know the backup password. That password is the whole point of the encryption.
- Pull data from a dead or won-t-power-on iPhone that has no backup. For that you need Apple Support or a hardware recovery service.
- Get into a locked iPhone you cannot unlock. It does not bypass the passcode.
- Reach data that only lives in iCloud without your Apple Account sign in.
We would rather tell you this up front than sell you a tool that cannot help. If your situation is in the second list, Apple explains your real options for a backup and a locked device in the Apple Support guide to iPhone backups.
Free to Try
Preview Free, Unlock When You Are Ready
Free edition. Download and open any backup, then preview the first part of every view at no cost. See that your data is really in there before you pay a cent.
Full Edition, 599 US dollars one time. Unlock the whole backup, full search and export of photos, messages and contacts. One payment, no subscription, free updates.
Questions
iPhone Backup Viewer FAQ
Can I open an iPhone backup on a Windows PC?
Yes. An iPhone backup on Windows is a folder of coded filenames and databases that Apple gives you no way to open. Sherlock Forensics iOS Analyzer reads that folder and shows your photos, messages, contacts and more in plain views. It runs on Windows 10 and Windows 11.
Where does Windows store the iPhone backup?
In your user folder, under Apple, then MobileSync, then Backup. Each backup is its own subfolder full of files with long coded names. That is why you cannot just open it and find your photos. The viewer decodes that structure for you.
Does opening the backup change anything on my iPhone?
No. The viewer reads the backup file on your computer. It never touches your iPhone and never alters the backup itself. You can open the same backup as many times as you like.
What if my backup is encrypted?
An encrypted backup opens once you enter the backup password you set in the Apple Devices app or iTunes. If you do not know that password the backup cannot be opened, because the password is what protects it. An unencrypted backup opens with no password.
How much does it cost?
The viewer is free to download and preview. You see the first part of every view at no cost. The Full Edition is a one-time payment of 599 US dollars that unlocks the whole backup, full export and search. There is no subscription and updates are included.
Do I need the iPhone to view an existing backup?
No. If you already have a backup on the computer, the viewer opens it without the phone present. The phone is only needed when you want to make a fresh backup first. Learn more on the iOS Analyzer page.