Backup Extractor for iPhone: extract and restore files from an iPhone backup on Windows, Linux and OS X

The iPhone Backup Extractor is an easy-to-use program to extract files from an iPhone, iPod Touch, iPhone 3G or iPhone 3G s iTunes backup. It is useful for restoring AppStore applications, SMS histories, contact lists, call histories, photographs and other data that might otherwise be inaccessible. The registered version can automatically convert the extracted Apple databases into CSV format, so they can be easily imported into Excel, Outlook, or Webmail.

The backup extractor is free for non-commercial use, although registered users enjoy a number of benefits including faster restores, restoration of multiple files at a time, and automatic export to CSV. Commercial (ie. business users) users must register.

Visit our new site at iphonebackupextractor.com!

Download the free iPhone Backup Extractor here

iPhone Backup Extractor 32-bit (64-bit) (6th October 2009)

iPhone Backup Extractor screenshots

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Need support?

If you have a corrupt 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 currently does not work with encrypted backups. Email us and we might be able to help.

The iPhone Backup Extractor will run on any Windows XP, Vista or Windows 7 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, MobileMe 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 Tim commented at 11:03 a.m. on March 19, 2009

I've tried the iPhone Backup Extractor, but it doesn't seem to recognise backups from iTunes 8.1. Is this going to be fixed in a future update soon? Thanks, Tim

2 Aidan Fitzpatrick commented at 6:45 p.m. on March 19, 2009

Thanks for the comment, Tim. Version 1.0.0.3 (available above) fully supports the new backup format introduced in iTunes 8.1.

3 JP commented at 1:39 a.m. on April 9, 2009

hey what i want is just to extract my contact list so i can put it on a different phone while my iphone goes for repair would this application work to extract the contact list thanks

4 Steven commented at 9:16 a.m. on April 9, 2009

can I recover also my contacts from this file? My Iphone is stolen and I have only my contacts on the backup, it was not sync with outlook. Can this program do this? thx steven

5 Aidan Fitzpatrick commented at 8:39 a.m. on April 10, 2009

Hi JP and Steven

It's easy to restore the contact information from an iPhone backup. Follow these steps:

1. Using the iPhone Backup Extractor, restore the file "Libray/AddressBook/AddressBook.sqllitedb". This is a SQL Lite database file with all of your contacts.

2. Download and run the free SQL Lite database browser.

3. Open the restored file with the database browser, choose the "Execute SQL" tab and paste this into the "SQL string" field:

select ABPerson.first,ABPerson.last,ABMultiValue.value from ABPerson,ABMultiValue where ABMultiValue.record_id=ABPerson.ROWID

4. When you press the "Execute Query" button, you will see your full contact list shown in the "Data returned" field.

Hope this helps.

6 Cathy commented at 8:48 a.m. on April 24, 2009

I have some simple questions. I want to retrieved deleted text messages from my Itunes backup. Can I get these and what folder are they located in? After the extractor does it's thing and I have the extracted file. What do I do next?

7 Aidan Fitzpatrick commented at 8:49 a.m. on April 25, 2009

Hi Cathy

It's easy to restore your SMS text message history from an iPhone backup. Follow these steps:

1. Using the iPhone Backup Extractor, restore the file "Libray/SMS/SMS.db". This is a SQL Lite database file with all of your SMS messages.

2. Download and run the free SQL Lite database browser.

3. Open the restored file with the database browser, choose the "Browse data" tab, and then select "message" from the "Table" drop-down.

4. When you press the magnifying glass button, you will see your full SMS history shown in the "Data returned" field.

Hope this helps.

8 Mudassir commented at 2:25 p.m. on April 27, 2009

I go as far as step 3 and nothing happens.

9 k commented at 1:57 a.m. on April 28, 2009

Hello, step 2 of 5 shows it detects the number of files, but step 3 of 5 does not list any files, only empty box. Could this be maybe caused by some windows service not running?

10 Aidan Fitzpatrick commented at 9:18 a.m. on April 28, 2009

@Mudassir, @K: The problem you were seeing has been resolved in version 1.0.0.5. Please download it and try it out!

11 sebastian commented at 11:20 p.m. on April 28, 2009

It´s only finding 18 files in one of my folders and 0 in the other. why can´t it find all the files? Plz help I need to restore my contacts!

12 niziol commented at 1:42 p.m. on April 29, 2009

In version 1.0.0.5 is still a problem where users see no files to restore ;-))

13 Aidan Fitzpatrick commented at 9:28 a.m. on April 30, 2009

@sebastian, @niziol: We've just release 1.0.0.6, which fixes the additional "no files available" issue. If any users see other restore problems, quickest way for us to fix is if you can send a zip of your backup to go@reincubate.com. Thanks!

14 Christian Wirth commented at 9:44 a.m. on May 30, 2009

Great software! One question: I changed my iPhone 3G (old one is broken) . Now I started with a fresh installation but would love to use the old iPhone's SMS messages with the new one. Would I currently could achieve is to extract the sms.db from the old phone's backup and could even view the information with the sql-light viewer. It would be now necessary to restore somehow the sms.db of the old phone to the new phone. The new phone has a different name. I don't mind if the new's iphone SMS.db would be overwritten. Is there any way to do this? regards, Christian.

15 Aidan Fitzpatrick commented at 3:10 p.m. on June 1, 2009

@Christian

Thanks for the kind words. Unfortunately, the iPhone Backup Extractor can't replace files on your iPhone.

However, if you have a jail-broken iPhone there are a number of ways to upload files to it, using SSH/SCP or Windows Explorer. (Have a Google...) In theory if you jail-break the phone, replace the SMS.db, and then turn it off and on again, you should get what you want.

I wouldn't want to encourage you to try this, however: if you've not done it before and you're not comfortable messing about with the phone, there are plenty of things that can go wrong.

Sorry we can't provide an easy solution!

16 Jon commented at 3:12 a.m. on June 5, 2009

Does this work with iTunes 8.2.0?

17 Aidan Fitzpatrick commented at 2:24 p.m. on June 5, 2009

@Jon Yes, iPhoneBE fully supports iTunes 8.2.0. It will also support unencrypted backups from OS 3.

18 Scott commented at 5:53 a.m. on June 7, 2009

Is there a way to retrieve call history?

19 Aidan Fitzpatrick commented at 10:45 a.m. on June 9, 2009

@Scott
Yes, use the tool to restore /Library/CallHistory/call_history.db. You'll find that file is a SQLite DB containing your call history.

20 Nishant commented at 9:34 a.m. on June 11, 2009

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

21 Aidan Fitzpatrick commented at 9:45 a.m. on June 11, 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!

22 JH commented at 10:14 p.m. on June 18, 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.

23 Aidan Fitzpatrick commented at 10:24 a.m. on June 19, 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.

24 Jon Child commented at 3:47 p.m. on June 24, 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

25 Aidan Fitzpatrick commented at 5:34 p.m. on June 24, 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?

26 Alex commented at 4:26 p.m. on June 25, 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. ?

27 Aidan Fitzpatrick commented at 4:36 p.m. on June 25, 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!

28 Mike commented at 9:28 p.m. on July 3, 2009

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

29 Liz commented at 4:27 a.m. on August 2, 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. :)

30 Jenna commented at 5:15 p.m. on August 17, 2009

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

31 Razor commented at 4:29 p.m. on August 31, 2009

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

32 PaPavic commented at 8:08 p.m. on September 21, 2009

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

33 Mark commented at 6:10 a.m. on September 26, 2009

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

34 zsoltfa commented at 7:53 a.m. on September 26, 2009

Thank you Aiden, you were very helpful

35 George commented at 6 p.m. on October 10, 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.

36 Joe commented at 11:57 p.m. on October 14, 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!

37 Debbie White commented at 9:17 p.m. on October 21, 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!

38 Sylvia Mills commented at 10:13 p.m. on October 22, 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!

39 Zane commented at 11:36 p.m. on November 4, 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!!!!

40 LuckyGirl commented at 1:53 a.m. on November 27, 2009

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

41 amberife commented at 12:06 a.m. on December 6, 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!!!

42 alex commented at 11:37 a.m. on February 1, 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

How can I register?

Registration costs £15(~$24) and comes with email support and twelve months' upgrades.

To register you will need to send us your unique identifier. This can be found by clicking "Register"' in the application once you have downloaded it.

9 reasons to try it out

Simple wizard guides you through restoration in five easy steps
No spyware, malware, or adware
No installer: just a tiny download and a single file to run
Restoration is rapid
Registered version can restore files as CSV for easy import to Excel, Outlook, Webmail etc.
It automatically finds your iTunes backups: no need to search for hidden folders
Works on Windows, Linux and OS X
It works with the newest iTunes 8.2 and OS 3 formats as well as older formats
Hundreds of satisfied users