iPhone Backup Extractor: extract iPhone data from iTunes backups

The iPhone Backup Extractor is an easy-to-use software application that extracts files from any iPhone, iPad, iPod, and iOS iTunes backup. If you have a corrupted backup, lost or broken iPhone our application can help access contacts, calendars, AppStore applications files, SMS histories, photos, videos and other data that might otherwise be inaccessible. Encrypted backup support is now available, and is fully functioning in our Professional version.

Recover iPhone contacts
Recover iPhone photos
Recover iPhone notes
Recover iPhone SMS histories
Recover other lost iPhone data

iPhone Backup Extract is useful when:

You've lost your iPhone
Your iPhone has gone into recovery mode and needs a reset
You've lost some of the data from your iPhone following an iOS upgrade or sync
You want to see what's in your iPhone backup
You want to recover data from your encrypted iTunes backup

Registered users enjoy a number of benefits including faster recovery, recovery of multiple files at a time, and automatic export to CSV and VCard formats for easy import into Outlook, Gmail, etc. Business users must register.

iPhone Backup Extractor screenshots

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Need support?

If you have a corrupt backup, an encrypted backup or can't get it to work, email us and we might be able to help. If you're an iPhone developer, we can customise the application to help your testing. We're helping a number a number of developers this way already.

System requirements

The extractor works with encrypted backups but for security reasons, when dealing with encrypted backups, you must know the iTunes backup password and the application must validate it's correct.

The iPhone Backup Extractor will run on any Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7 or Windows 8 computer, or on Linux or OS X computers. On Windows it requires the .NET 2 framework (almost always already installed) and on Linux or OS X it requires Mono (free download). Users of Ubuntu Intrepid or Jaunty should find the application works with stock Mono packages. Mono users can run the application in a terminal, with mono iPhoneBackupExtractor.exe.

How can I put extracted files back on my iPhone?

It depends what the files are and on your level of technical ability. We can't vouch for any of these applications or methods working. If you know any neat tricks, let us know. In order of likely easiest:

Load it into Outlook, iTunes etc. and sync with your iPhone
Install a third-party piece of sync software like Syphone (Mac only)
Install a Wifi "shared drive" app (AirShare, DataCase, etc.) on the iPhone and try to replace the files directly
Jailbreak the iPhone and manually replace the files with SCP
Jailbreak the iPhone, SSH in and manually update the databases with SQLite once in
Save your old iTunes backup somewhere, get iTunes to take a new backup of your upgraded phone, then patch the new backup with files from the old backup and restore the new backup onto the phone (you'd need to hack the checksums manifest file to make this work which is fiddly but theoretically possible)

Comments

#1 Nishant commented at 10:34 a.m. on June 11^th, 2009

Is there any other way to copy the backed-up files on the devices except ssh..

#2 Aidan Fitzpatrick commented at 10:45 a.m. on June 11^th, 2009

@Nish: Thanks for your interest in the backup extractor. I believe there are some applications available in the AppStore (AirShare, DataCase) that expose your iPhone's filesystem over the wireless network, and they may be suitable for copying some of the files back to your iPhone. Let us know how you get on!

#3 JH commented at 11:14 p.m. on June 18^th, 2009

Hi - just updated to OS 3.0 and as a result seem to have lost half of my photos from camera roll...?! (VERY ANNNOYING!) Is there any way, using your software, to retrieve these missing photos from the backup of my phone? Any help much appreciated.

#4 Aidan Fitzpatrick commented at 11:24 a.m. on June 19^th, 2009

@JH: Sorry to hear about your upgrade problem. If your iPhone was backed up when the photos were on it -- and you still have the backup -- it will be possible to restore them with the iPhone Backup Extractor. Load it up and browse to the Media/DCIM/100APPLE folder and you should see your photos.

#5 Jon Child commented at 4:47 p.m. on June 24^th, 2009

I had an audio recording on the phone before i lost all of my information, where would i find that once i have opened all of the previous back ups ? The file was created with FiRe audio recording software

#6 Aidan Fitzpatrick commented at 6:34 p.m. on June 24^th, 2009

@Jon Thanks for your interest in the iPhone Backup Extractor. I don't know that voice recording software, but it's likely to store whatever files it creates under it's own folder, which will be somewhere under "Applications". Why not download it and have a look?

#7 Alex commented at 5:26 p.m. on June 25^th, 2009

Hi, I have a problem. I restored my iPhone and lost all of my contacts. I don't have the numbers saved on iTunes. Will this program work for me if I had them on my iPhone before I restored it. ?

#8 Aidan Fitzpatrick commented at 5:36 p.m. on June 25^th, 2009

@Alex. If you connected your iPhone with iTunes and it backed up the phone, yes, they will be. If you have connected the iPhone to iTunes since the restore, it may have overwritten your last backup. If you run the backup extractor it should give you some clues. Good luck!

#9 Mike commented at 10:28 p.m. on July 3^rd, 2009

Thank-you for helping me save my most recent contacts! Great job!!

#10 Liz commented at 5:27 a.m. on August 2^nd, 2009

You guys should make a YouTube tutorial! I know plenty of people who have had their iphones either lost or stolen, and can't replace their valuable contacts without buying another phone. Thanks so much for making this a free program! I retrieved my prized contacts! If you can't make a YouTube tutorial on how to view your iPhone backup files on your pc/mac, an illustrative step by step page would do just fine. :)

#11 Jenna commented at 6:15 p.m. on August 17^th, 2009

I love you!!! I struggled with this but got there in the end, all my contacts and text messages were retrieved, thank you!

#12 Razor commented at 5:29 p.m. on August 31^st, 2009

EXCELLENT SOFTWARE PUT PHONE IN WASHING MACHINE... RUN A BUSINESS GOT EVERYTHING BACK WITH THIS TOOL MY BUSINESS THANKS YOU!!!!

#13 PaPavic commented at 9:08 p.m. on September 21^st, 2009

This software has helped me get my contact and SMS back along with Iphone Browser.

#14 Mark commented at 7:10 a.m. on September 26^th, 2009

You guys are GODS !!!! £15 is f''all and I got all the addresses back !! I love you ... I truely, truely love you !!

#15 zsoltfa commented at 8:53 a.m. on September 26^th, 2009

Thank you Aiden, you were very helpful

#16 George commented at 7 p.m. on October 10^th, 2009

Just wanted to add something to the "contacts" restoral query: If you change the query to this: select ABPerson.first,ABPerson.last, ABPerson.organization, ABMultiValue.value from ABPerson,ABMultiValue where ABMultiValue.record_id=ABPerson.ROWID (adding the "ABPerson.organization" in there) you will be able to see the "Company" name that the contact info is listed under.

#17 Joe commented at 12:57 a.m. on October 15^th, 2009

This software is extremely useful for recovering photos, voice mail, and videos and other data from an iPhone. While iTunes does not directly import photos voice mail, and or videos, the data is backed up onto a Mac or Windows when the phone is being "backed up", prior to an upgrade or during a sync. The files are stored in the "MobileSync" folder buried in the user folder on either platform. Each sync adds more data (incrementally) to the same folder. If problems occur during a sync, the files can become corrupt. This is why Apple creates a separate folder before each upgrade. All users should consider backing up their MobileSync folder periodically, and before major changes to their phone. With a clean, backed up MobileSync folder, Backup Extractor for iPhone can recover everything!

#18 Debbie White commented at 10:17 p.m. on October 21^st, 2009

Hi, Aidan - I really appreciate all the extra attention you gave to me to help me restore my files. We got about 90% of the data which is still a miracle. My assistant can enter the rest by hand. You were so patient with my operator errors. I know there has to be a way to get the rest with your program, but it's way smarter than I am. Your attention to your customers is outstanding. I think a lot of other companies could learn from you! Look me up if you ever come to Alaska!

#19 Sylvia Mills commented at 11:13 p.m. on October 22^nd, 2009

This is the BEST software I have ever found. You are the BOMB! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for creating this software. It is FANTASTIC, WONDERFUL, there just are not enough words to express my gratitude!

#20 Zane commented at 11:36 p.m. on November 4^th, 2009

OMG!!! Thank you so much!!! I had all my pictures of my son for the last 4 months, and him being only 10 months now, 4 months is a big deal. Was gutted when I thought I had lost them all because of a stupid software update, but with this Extractor, I was able to recover them all!!! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!!!

#21 LuckyGirl commented at 1:53 a.m. on November 27^th, 2009

Thanks so much for this software! I recovered all the data lost by syncing with outlook. :)

#22 amberife commented at 12:06 a.m. on December 6^th, 2009

You are a LIFE SAVER. I needed to recover info from just one note and I was afraid I didn't have the know how to open the one .db file by myself, but I DID IT!!! I feel smart and I have my info and it's because of you. YOU ROCK!!!

#23 alex commented at 11:37 a.m. on February 1^st, 2010

...sql request to get contacts type: SELECT abp.first, abp.last, abp.organization, REPLACE(REPLACE( abmvl.value, "_$!<", ""), ">!$_", ""), abmv.value FROM ABPerson abp, ABMultiValue abmv, ABMultiValueLabel abmvl WHERE abmv.record_id = abp.ROWID AND abmv.label = abmvl.ROWID ORDER By abp.Last, abp.First, abp.CreationDate

#24 Ricky commented at 4:35 a.m. on March 4^th, 2010

Hi buddy Thanks to post this article on web. I really happy and feeling relax with iPhone Backup Extractor.......

#25 Leeroyone commented at 12:45 a.m. on September 1^st, 2010

Un grand merci !!! car j ai galéré av de trouver avec toutes ses version payante en anglais en plus . tester ok j ai retouver mes photo . thanks !!

#26 Kevin Rounce commented at 10:19 p.m. on October 4^th, 2010

You saved 500 photos which would have been irretrievably lost. These included my honeymoon photos. MANY MANY THANKS, you deserve a medal. And some $$$.

#27 Jason commented at 10:32 p.m. on December 4^th, 2010

a super application - I retrieved all of my photo's from my stolen iphone from the backup file - well worth the £15 ! nice one guys!

#28 Penny commented at 4:53 p.m. on April 1^st, 2011

If every company had the excellent customer support as you life would be much easier. Your team is awesome and I tell everyone about it. Also, special thanks to Andy for his patience and compassion. Kudos to him!!! Thanks again.

#29 Amazed commented at 2:44 a.m. on April 3^rd, 2011

ALL I CAN SAY IS WWWOOOOWWWW!! I thought all my stuff was gone after I had to do a full restore on my iphone. WOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOOWWOWOWOW!!! This is SOOOOO worth it! U GUYS ROCK LIKE A MOUNTAIN!

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