Restore an iPhone from a Backup (The Hard Way)

I wish that I had an easier time restoring Erin’s iPhone but there happened to be some misfortunes along the way. i.e. iPhone crashed (firmware chip?), not backing up the phone often enough, laptop crashing, and weird folder structures for Apple/iTunes.

This entire process started with obtaining a new iPhone, recovering the laptop hard drive, and locating all the important information. Below I will describe the steps necessary to recover an iPhone with the backup files iTunes creates when the user uses the “backup” button.

PC Instructions

Locate the backup file you want to restore from. I would start looking in the default backup directory: C:\Users\user\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup – SEE NOTES BELOW
Load iTunes
Plug in iPhone- wait for it to mount
Navigate to the iPhone and select “Update” / “Restore” while holding the Shift key. (Hold Shift key + Click Update/Restore)
This will prompt you to choose the backup directory. Refer to Step 1 and where you found your backup file.
Restore!
Restore and Good Luck!

Notes:

Depending on what version of Windows you’re running the path might also be: C:\Documents and Settings\user\Application Data\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup
The folder name for the backups is rather strange. Here is an example of mine: 2869abaa23e687eb5bdb0dde76dcae8472a74f0d

Mac Instructions

Locate the backup file you want to restore from. I would start looking in the default backup directory: User/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/ – SEE NOTE BELOW
Load iTunes
Plug in iPhone- wait for it to mount
Navigate to the iPhone and select “Update” / “Restore” while holding the Option key. (Hold Option key + Click Update/Restore)
This will prompt you to choose the backup directory. Refer to Step 1 and where you found your backup file.
Restore and Good Luck!

Notes: