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Hello all, apologies if this has been asked already.
Neither my iCloud or local drive have enough space to store a full backup. Is it possible to backup an iPhone directly to an external drive via finder?
If no, then is there a way to do a partial backup (I only want to backup apps & documents)?
iPhone SE, iOS 14
You can't backup apps themselves, they have to be redownloaded from Apple.
You cannot seletively backup items except to the extent that some items are even kept in backups but if you are using any of Apple's sync services such as iCloud Contacts, those are stored in iCloud and not a backup.
There used to be a way to use symbolic links to redirect backup file locations but that was kind of more an advanced level thing and it wouldn't surprise me if it was no longer possible.
You may be able to move old backups to an external drive, thereby freeing up local storage.
Locate backups of your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch - Apple Support
Along the lines of ChrisJ4203's suggestions:
Click on this link to discover how to "Upgrade to iCloud+" --> https://support.apple.com/HT201318
To be honest, given the low price of iCloud storage, you would probably be better served increasing your iCloud storage space versus the cost of an external drive. And, as Limnos said, you cannot backup directly to the external drive, you would have to move things around.
backup iphone to external hd
