idig

A tool for extracting files from iPhone backups.

Limitations

• macOS only
• Unencrypted backups only

Installation

Pre-built binaries are available for download from the release page.

Usage

Prerequisites

1. Grant Full Disk Access to your terminal application:
   • Open System Settings → Privacy & Security → Full Disk Access
   • Add and enable your terminal application (Terminal.app, iTerm2, etc.)

Basic Usage

1. Locate your iPhone backup directory:

bash ls ~/Library/Application\ Support/MobileSync/Backup

1. Search for files in the backup using idig search:

bash idig --backup-dir ~/Library/Application\ Support/MobileSync/Backup/XXXXXXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX \ search --domain-contains com.apple.news \ --path-contains Documents

1. Extract files from the backup using idig extract:

bash idig --backup-dir ~/Library/Application\ Support/MobileSync/Backup/XXXXXXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX \ extract --domain-contains com.apple.news \ --path-contains Documents \ --output extracted-files

Command Options

``` Usage: idig --backup-dir

Commands: search Search for files based on various criteria extract Extract files based on search criteria help Print this message or the help of the given subcommand(s)

Options: -b, --backup-dir iPhone backup directory path (containing Manifest.db) -h, --help Print help -V, --version Print version ```

Search Command

``` Search for files based on various criteria

Usage: idig --backup-dir search [OPTIONS]

Options: --domain-exact Exact domain match --domain-contains Partial domain match --path-exact Exact path match --path-contains Partial path match --or Use OR logic instead of AND (default is AND) -h, --help Print help ```

Extract Command

``` Extract files based on search criteria

Usage: idig --backup-dir extract [OPTIONS] --output

Options: -o, --output

Output directory for extracted files --domain-exact Exact domain match --domain-contains Partial domain match --path-exact Exact path match --path-contains Partial path match --or Use OR logic instead of AND (default is AND) -h, --help Print help ```