What are the system requirements?

iExplorer works with all iPhones, iPads, and iPods ever made and can be installed on almost any Windows PC or Mac.

iExplorer 4

Supports all iOS versions including iOS 10-15 (and all regular iPods).

macOS: 10.9* - 10.15 & 11  (Mavericks, Yosemite, El Capitan, Sierra, High Sierra, Mojave, Catalina, & Big Sur)

PC: Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 10.0-10.2

iExplorer 3

Supports iOS 1-9 (and all regular iPods).

macOS: 10.6** - 10.11 (Snow Leopard - El Capitan)

Windows PC: Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, and 10


You'll also need a USB cable to connect your iPhone, iPad, or iPod to your Mac or PC (i.e. either a Lightning or 30 pin connector depending on the model of your Apple device), and for Windows users, you'll also need a version of iTunes installed that supports your iOS version. If you can't get your device to connect in iExplorer, you should try the steps in our article for My device isn't appearing in iExplorer. 

We highly recommend that you install and use the most current major version iExplorer 4 to help guarantee the highest level of compatibility with your device as well as support for several of the newer features in iOS and iTunes, but we still have legacy download links on the Downloads page for people with computers or OS versions that don't meet the minimum system requirements for iExplorer 4 (see above for the specific minimum requirements). To access those older download links on the Downloads page, click on 'Download details and other versions' to the left of iExplorer's Download button which will expand more download options.


* iExplorer 4.1 or later and iOS 11 & 12 require Mac OS 10.10 or later, but iExplorer 4.0.12 will install and work with Mac OS 10.9.  The Windows OS requirement did not change in the 4.1 update.
** Macs running 10.6 Snow Leopard must install iExplorer 3.8.6.1 due to Apple depreciating Mac OS 10.6 in iOS 9-12 and also due to its lack of support for more modern and robust MacOS development frameworks and functionaliy. You can download a 10.6.8 compatible version of iExplorer 3 from HERE, but you shouldalso note that Apple's minimum system requirement for using an iOS 10 device with iTunes on a computer is Mac OS 10.9.5 or later and Windows 7 or later which is the exact same as iExplorer 4.0's requirements. iOS 11 requires MacOS 10.10 or later. For iOS 9, Apple's minimum system requirement for an iTunes compatible version is Mac OS 10.7 or later and Windows XP or later.