How to check my iOS-backup password

Question

When backing up iOS devices to the mac, encrypted backups are possible. Is there a way to test my password, which I think is correct, without trying to restore some iPad from this backup?

I want to make sure that I not only have my iPad backed-up, but also make sure that I remember the password correctly.

I would prefer not to "pretend" I want to change my password, just to check if my password works.

Any Ideas?

I am on macos Catalina and iPadOS 14.3.

Answer 1

If you saved it in keychain, it will auto-fill in the Change Password dialog.

If so, it's listed in keychain as "iOS Backup", where you can open the plaintext version to see.

If not, then I think you'll have to try changing it to see if you remembered it correctly. I don't know if it will allow changing to the same password - never tested that.

Answer 2

I just tested the changing password approach and it works. You additionally have to verify the password change by entering your code on your phone while it is connected.

Another option would be to download a program like iBackup viewer. Then you can also see what the backup contains.