View an iPhone backup
on Windows.

You'll find the folder in a minute. What's in it will look like nonsense, and that's normal: Apple renames every file in a backup to a long code and keeps a database that maps the codes back to real names. A viewer reads that database for you and shows the backup much as you saw it on the phone.

This guide is for Windows. On a Mac or Linux, see the free iPhone backup viewer, and for the folders on both, where iPhone backups are stored.

What you can see

• Messages: every iMessage, SMS and group chat, with the photos sent in them. You can search them too.
• WhatsApp: chats, groups and broadcast lists, with their photos, voice messages and calls, if WhatsApp was on the phone. Here's how to export WhatsApp chats.
• Photos: the camera roll and the albums made on the phone.
• Contacts, calls and notes: the address book, the call log including FaceTime, and Apple Notes.
• Voicemail: saved voicemails you can play and save.
• Podcasts: the shows followed in Apple Podcasts and every episode played. Here's how to move them to another podcast app.
• Web history: pages visited in Safari and Firefox, and the sites visited most.
• Timeline: messages, calls, photos and more in one list by date.
• Backup details: counts and patterns for the whole backup, under Tools on the home page.

Some things, such as call history and web history, are only in encrypted backups. You can see each screen on the screenshots page, taken with a made-up test backup.

What it can't do

• iCloud backups aren't on your PC. OpenExtract reads backups saved on a computer.
• It reads backups and can make new ones; it doesn't edit or restore them. It can't change a backup or put one back on a phone. For a full side-by-side, see OpenExtract vs iMazing.
• Not every app. It covers the apps listed above, WhatsApp included. Other chat apps, such as WeChat, Line, Viber, Telegram or Signal, aren't supported, and nor is WhatsApp Business.
• Encrypted backups need their password. There's no way to open one without it.
• An interrupted backup may be incomplete. If a backup stopped partway, some things may be missing. Back up again to get a full one.
• It doesn't change where iTunes or Apple Devices save backups. Apple's apps always use their usual folder. OpenExtract can open a copy from anywhere, though, and a backup it makes itself goes to the folder you choose.

Common questions

Does it work with backups from the Apple Devices app? Yes. Apple Devices and iTunes make the same kind of backup, and OpenExtract opens both.

Why can't I just open the files in the backup? Apple stores the data in databases and renames every file to a code, so there's nothing to double-click. A viewer reads the database and shows the real content.

Can I move the backup to another drive? You can copy the whole folder anywhere and open the copy in OpenExtract. Apple's apps only look in their usual folder, so leave the original there if you want them to keep using it.

Which backup belongs to which phone? OpenExtract shows each backup's device name, iOS version and date when you pick the folder that holds them.

Does it open iPad backups? Yes. iPad backups use the same format, so OpenExtract opens them the same way. Things an iPad doesn't have, such as voicemail, won't show up.

Which iOS versions does it read? Before a release, the project tests it on Windows, Mac and Linux against real public backups from iOS 13 to 17. Every change is also tested with made-up backups laid out like iOS 15, 17 and 26.

Is it safe to install? The installer is signed by the developer, and all of the code is public on GitHub for anyone to read. It doesn't upload your backup.

Does it work on Mac and Linux too? Yes. There are versions for Mac (Apple Silicon) and Linux as well. See the free iPhone backup viewer and iPhone backups on Linux.

Does anything get uploaded? No. OpenExtract reads the backup on your own computer and doesn't send it anywhere. It goes online only when you let it: to check for a new version, if you allow it (you can turn that off in Settings); to send a problem report or a thank-you, when you click Send; and on Windows, to install Apple's free Apple Devices app from Microsoft, if you ask it to, for backing up an iPhone. Nothing from inside your backup goes with any of them.

Is it really free? Yes. OpenExtract is open source under the MIT license, with no paid tier, no account and no strings attached. The code is on GitHub.