Restore lost iOS data using Time Machine

Note: This article will only apply to you if you use Time Machine on OS X Lion to backup your system, and your device is backed up to your computer not the iCloud

It is possible that when iTunes is syncing with an iPad it can hang or that a power cut or a force quit situation, or perhaps an update, has deleted some of the data that resides on your iPad local to the apps. I had this recently and found an answer on the Internet to my woes.

I don't have a link to that article - it was on the iPad with the data that I reset (so the page history in Safari was lost for that day!) - but I can remember the steps, and will explain all here.

The data for iOS apps - when you sync with your Mac - resides in a folder inside your User folder (i.e. Macintosh HD -> Users -> Your User Name -> Library -> Application Support -> MobileSync -> Backup). This folder is inside your personal Library folder, but you won't see the Library folder in Lion OS X because Apple have hidden it. Don't worry, I'll detail how you find it and the rest of the restore steps here.

1. Backup any files you have created recently or don't want to risk losing from within the apps - using e.g. DropBox or emailing them to yourself
2. Open iTunes
3. Go to Preferences in the iTunes menu
4. Click on Devices
5. Check the box that reads 'Prevent, iPods, iPhones, and iPads from syncing automatically'
6. Close the Preferences window
7. Click on Finder
8. Press cmd + shift + G
9. in the box enter the following: ~YourUserName/Library
10. Press enter
11. Open the Application Support folder
12. Open the MobileSync folder
13. Open the Backup folder
14. Now Enter Time Machine from the icon on the desktop menu bar
15. Go back to the time at which you are confident the version you want to restore existed
16. Click on the folder to highlight it and press Restore files and when prompted overwrite the newer ones with the older ones
17. Go to iTunes
18. Plug in your iPad with the USB cable (you can do this wirelessly but I prefer to play it safe)
19. Ctrl + click (or right-click) on the iPad in iTunes and select Restore from Backup. It might give you a choice of backup folders if you have more than one device - note from Finder the one you want to restore - and if it complains at any point about being an older version just click OK or use older version.

Following this your data should be restored to the earlier version. If you have problems you'll have to dig deeper into the MobileSync folder and the past backups you made. But with your data secured in Step 1, hopefully there won't be too much that is lost.

One thing that I did find was that some of my apps didn't download automatically. I had to go to the App Store and look at the purchased items 'Not on This iPad' and download them again - once I did they could access the old data that I had restored.