If you need to get the serial number of your iPhone but you no longer have the device in your possession (for example it has been lost or stolen) you can recover it from your iTunes backup files. You might need the serial number to make a claim with your insurance, shipping company, etc.
From iTunes Preferences
In iTunes Preferences on the Devices tab you should see a list of all iPhone backups that have been saved on this machine. The list shows the device name and backup date for every device that was backed up. When you hover your mouse over the backup, a yellow pop-up will appear with the serial and IMIE number.
Grab it From the Backup File
If you’re more the geeky type, you can also recover this info directly from the backup file. Go to your User home directory, ~/Library->Application Support->MobileSync->Backup. The backup folders are long sequences of letters and numbers so you will have to make an educated guess for the correct device based on the backup date.
When you open the backup folder you’ll see more files with long string names, but scroll down and you’ll find a file named Info.plist. To read this file you will need “Property List Editor” which comes with Xcode, or a third party app. You need OSX to do this, Windows doesn’t support Xcode to my knowledge.
Once you open the .plist file your device Serial Number is listed. You will also find your IMEI number as well as a bunch of information about your iPhone.
Hi,
I have windows 7 and iTunes 10.0. How do i do it with these???
@terri, you should be able to do this in Windows if you used it to sync and backup your iPhone. Just go to Edit->Preferences and you’ll see the same preferences screen. The rest of the instructions are the same for both Windows and OSX.
I cant understand this code.
This is an excellent explanation and display, and it took
only seconds to follow the instructions. Thank you!
I am running Windows Vista and iTunes 10.5.1 and it will only show my phone number when I hover over the backups. Am I doing something wrong?
Thanks.
You r the man……thanks
Great advice, well written. Consulted this very site while on the ‘phone to my telco’s call centre while reporting my lost iPhone. ^_^
When i open up preference and put the mouse onto the name of any device, some of the devices only show the serial number and some only show the IMEI. For iphones, it only shows the phone number….I really need to find out my serial number for my iphone right now and idk why it’s doin that