Apple's solution for you to back up an iPhone on Windows is using iTunes. However, iTunes has its default iPhone backup location and you are not allowed to change it. Therefore, when you are looking to back up an iPhone to an external hard drive on Windows 11, iTunes won't be a perfect way out, not to mention iCloud which backs up your data in cloud storage.
To back up an iPhone to an external hard drive on Windows 11, it is advisable to use one of the many third-party iPhone backup tools, For example, Qiling MobiMover.
Although it mainly works as an iPhone data transfer tool, Qiling MobiMover also does well as an iPhone backup tool, a WhatsApp Manager, and a HEIC converter. More specifically, here are the essential features of Qiling MobiMover:
iPhone Data Transfer: It helps to transfer photos, videos, music, ringtones, contacts, and more between an iPhone/iPad/iPod touch and a PC/Mac or between two iDevices. When you want to transfer photos from one iPhone to another, put music on an iPhone, or download text messages from an iPhone to a computer, you can get all of them done with Qiling MobiMover.
iPhone Backup: You can change the iPhone backup location freely and thus you will be able to back up an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to an external hard drive easily. Unlike iTunes and iCloud which back up everything on your iDevice, you can choose to back up your device data all at once or selectively. Thus, it provides more flexible solutions for you to make abackup of your iPhone. When it comes to iPhone backup, it supports photos, videos, contacts, and many other file types.
WhatsApp Management: As one of the most commonly-used social networking apps, WhatsApp messages are always precious to you. That's why Qiling MobiMover would like to help you transfer, back up, and restore WhatsApp messages and attachments.
HEIC Conversion: HEIC is not natively supported by Windows and may not be compatible with some programs. That's when you need to convert HEIC to JPG so that you can view and use your iPhone photos on different devices and programs.
In a word, Qiling MobiMover could not only enable you to back up your iPhone to an external hard drive on Windows 11 but also allow you to do many other things to manage your iPhone content better. Don't hesitate to give it a try.
No complex step is involved to back up an iPhone to an external drive on Windows. All you need to do is change the backup location to a folder on the external hard drive before the backup initiates.
To back up an iPhone to an external hard drive on Windows 11:
Step 1.Connect your iPhone to your PC with a USB cable and go to "Backup Manager" > "Back up" in Qiling MobiMover.
Step 2.Check the content you need to backup and tap "Select" to change the iPhone backup location to the external hard drive. Then click "One-Click Backup".
Step 3.Wait for the backup to complete. If you need to restore an iPhone from the backup in the future, go to "Backup Manager" > "Restore" to restore the backup from the external hard drive to your device.
Although there is a roundabout way for you to change your iTunes backup location, you are not recommended to do so. That's because this operation may corrupt your backup files and you will need to move them back when you need to restore a device from a backup. That's why it's a better choice for you to back up an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to an external hard drive on Windows with a professional iPhone backup tool like Qiling MobiMover.
It's never too late to back up your precious data, not only on your iPhone but also on many other devices like your tablet or computer. Do it now to prevent data loss in the most effective way.