Time Machine Backup For Mac Os X



Time Machine won’t just backup your Mac, it will keep hourly backups for the past 24 hours, daily backups for the past month, and weekly backups for each month, so you can recover an earlier. Time Machine is a backup software application distributed as part of macOS, desktop operating system developed by Apple.The software is designed to work with AirPort Time Capsule, the Wi-Fi router with built-in hard disk, as well as other internal and external disk drives.

  1. Jul 12, 2015 Open the “Time Machine” application in your /Applications/ folder and restore files from the old Time Machine backup to the new Mac OS X machine. Or open a Finder folder with the files you want to restore, and go to the Time Machine menu item and enter from there. Migration Assistant can copy the old files from the old Mac too.
  2. Feb 08, 2018 All you really need to do is buy a cheap external hard drive (1 TB usually goes for $60-100), attach it to your Mac and run the Time Machine app once. After that, OS X will take care of everything.
  3. How to use Time Machine to backup your Mac, read carefully. In OS X, Apple added a very useful function to make a backup of information that needs to be configured only once and thereafter copies of information are automatic. The function is called Time Machine, and maybe you’ve seen in a menu on your computer but do not know its purpose.

If you store anything on your Mac that’s even remotely important – your photos, documents, anything, you need to back it up. Sure, you can use Dropbox, Amazon Cloud Drive or Backblaze but one of the simplest options is built right into OS X. It’s called Time Machine.

All you really need to do is buy a cheap external hard drive (1 TB usually goes for $60-100), attach it to your Mac and run the Time Machine app once. After that, OS X will take care of everything for you. How exactly? Let’s find out.

How Does Time Machine Work?

Once Time Machine is set up and connected to the external drive, it will take multiple backups. Time Machine will backup new stuff hourly, plus it will keep a daily backup for the past month and weekly backups for a couple of months.

It keeps adding new stuff so there’s no repeated backups here. Plus, if the storage runs out, Time Machine will just delete the oldest backups. If you’re buying an external hard drive, make sure it’s at least twice the size of the hard drive or SSD in your Mac.

Related: Learn about the 8 ways to free up space on your Mac.

How to Turn on Time Machine Backup

Attach the external drive using USB or Thunderbolt before you get started. Now, go to System Preferences either using the Apple menu or using Spotlight Search.

Here, locate the Time Machine option and click on the icon.

You’ll see a toggle on the left. Just click on it to turn Time Machine on.

This will bring up a menu that shows all the hard drives and partitions that you can use Time Machine with. If you’re using an AirPort Express or a Time Capsule, you should see it here as well. If not, choose the last option to set it up.

In my case, I already have a partition prepared for called Time Machine HD (see how to do that with an external hard drive here). I’m just going to choose that and click Use Disk.

That’s it, in a couple of seconds, the backup process will start automatically.

Should you encrypt backups? The rule of thumb is that if you can encrypt, you should. Especially if your backups are going to carry important data. If you encrypt a backup, the chances of someone stumbling upon your hard drive and being able to extract your data from it are extremely miniscule. Although, you should know that encrypting a drive for the first time takes a lot of time. It could be hours.

How to Exclude Folders From Backup

If you don’t want any particular folder to be backed up, open the Time Machine app again and click Options.

Here, select the + icon and select the folder/file you want to exclude. Click Save and you’re done.

How to Restore Files From Time Machine

All the backups in the world aren’t going to help you out if you can’t actually restore them. Time Machine is well equipped in this regard. You can easily just pick one file and restore it or restore the entire backup if something goes wrong with your Mac.

If you want to restore individual files, you’ll need to go the Time Machine window and select the file you want to restore. And the only way to get there is by clicking the Time Machine option in the menu bar and selecting Enter Time Machine.

To enable Time Machine icon in the menu bar, go to the Time Machine settings window and enable the option from the bottom.

How to Restore Entire Time Machine Backup

If you want to replace everything on your current hard drive with a Time Machine backup, you’ll need to do that from the bootup menu.

When you power on your Mac, hold the Cmd + R keys. You’ll now enter a screen that says OS X Utilities.

From here, select Restore from Time Machine Backup and click Continue.

On the next page, select Restore Your System and click Continue. Select your Time Machine backup, click continue in the next two menus and that’s it.

If you’re running a completely blank hard drive, it’s also possible to directly boot into a Time Machine backup. Simply hold the Option key while booting up and select the drive from the menu.

Now, Relax

Knowing that your data is safe is a good feeling right? You know what’s even a better feeling? Having multiple backups. We’ve discussed this strategy and more in our Ultimate Guide to OS X Yosemite which you should check out here.


The above article may contain affiliate links which help support Guiding Tech. However, it does not affect our editorial integrity. The content remains unbiased and authentic.Also SeeTime Machine Backup For Mac Os X#backup #OS X

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You can use Time Machine, the built-in backup feature of your Mac, to automatically back up all of your files, including apps, music, photos, email, documents, and system files. When you have a backup, you can restore files from your backup if the original files are ever deleted from your Mac, or the hard disk (or SSD) in your Mac is erased or replaced.

Create a Time Machine backup

To create backups with Time Machine, all you need is an external storage device. After you connect the device and select it as your backup disk, Time Machine automatically makes hourly backups for the past 24 hours, daily backups for the past month, and weekly backups for all previous months. The oldest backups are deleted when your backup disk is full.

Time Machine Backup For Mac Os X 10 13 Download

Connect an external storage device

Connect one of the following external storage devices, sold separately. Learn more about backup disks that you can use with Time Machine.

  • External drive connected to your Mac, such as a USB, Thunderbolt, or FireWire drive
  • External drive connected to an AirPort Extreme Base Station (802.11ac model) or AirPort Time Capsule
  • AirPort Time Capsule
  • Mac shared as a Time Machine backup destination
  • Network-attached storage (NAS) device that supports Time Machine over SMB

Select your storage device as the backup disk

When you connect an external drive directly to your Mac, you might be asked if you want to use the drive to back up with Time Machine. Select Encrypt Backup Disk (recommended), then click Use as Backup Disk.

Use Time Machine Backup Mac

An encrypted backup is accessible only to users with the password. Learn more about keeping your backup disk secure.

If Time Machine doesn't ask to use your drive, follow these steps to add it manually:

  1. Open Time Machine preferences from the Time Machine menu in the menu bar. Or choose Apple () menu > System Preferences, then click Time Machine.
  2. Click Select Backup Disk (or Select Disk, or Add or Remove Backup Disk):
  3. Select your external drive from the list of available disks. Then select ”Encrypt backups” (recommended) and click Use Disk:

If the disk you selected isn't formatted as required by Time Machine, you're prompted to erase the disk first. Click Erase to proceed. This erases all information on the backup disk.

Enjoy the convenience of automatic backups

After you select a backup disk, Time Machine immediately begins making periodic backups—automatically and without further action by you. The first backup may take a long time, depending on how many files you have, but you can continue using your Mac while a backup is underway. Time Machine backs up only the files that changed since the previous backup, so future backups will be faster.

Backup With Time Machine

To start a backup manually, choose Back Up Now from the Time Machine menu in the menu bar. Use the same menu to check the status of a backup or skip a backup in progress.

Time Machine Backup Interrupted Mac Os X

Backup with time machine

Learn more

Time Machine Backup Mac Os X

  • If you back up to multiple disks, you can switch disks before entering Time Machine. Press and hold the Option key, then choose Browse Other Backup Disks from the Time Machine menu.
  • To exclude items from your backup, open Time Machine preferences, click Options, then click the Add (+) button to add an item to be excluded. To stop excluding an item, such as an external hard drive, select the item and click the Remove (–) button.
  • If using Time Machine to back up to a network disk, you can verify those backups to make sure they're in good condition. Press and hold Option, then choose Verify Backups from the Time Machine menu.
  • In OS X Lion v10.7.3 or later, you can start up from your Time Machine disk, if necessary. Press and hold Option as your Mac starts up. When you see the Startup Manager screen, choose “EFI Boot” as the startup disk.




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