How to use Time Machine backup
With macOS, you get a built-in way to back up your files. Show
Use Time Machine with an external drive, such as Seagate® Backup Plus Slim Portable Drive, to easily back up your data, photos, and documents. Time Machine can automatically back up everything on your computer in just a few steps. Follow these steps to use your Backup Plus with Time Machine: 1. Plug in your Backup Plus to your system. 2. Open Time Machine from your Menu Bar (or from System Preferences). 3. Choose Select Backup Disk. 4. Select Seagate Backup Plus Drive (or the external drive as shown) connected to your Mac, and choose Use for Backup. Your external backup drive is now ready, and a Time Machine backup will start within 2 minutes. It’s that easy. If Time Machine has been previously set up: open Time Machine and choose Select Disk then select the external drive. Note that your first backup may take several hours, depending on how many files you have. However, you can still use your computer while the backup is in progress. Thereafter, future backups will complete faster as Time Machine only backs up the files that have changed since the previous backup. macOS requires that a drive be formatted with a specific file system to be used with Time Machine
Use this link for instructions on formatting your drive Setting up the external drive to be used with Time Machine:
Excluding items from Time Machine backup plan
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Restoring data from Time Machine backup:
It’s important to back your Mac up. Not only does it help create a backup of files and folders, backups provide a place you can reboot to if your Mac stops working, or you get a new Mac. Time Machine is Apple’s method for backing your Mac up, and it’s a solid choice. It’s reliable, fairly easy to use, and can keep your Mac backed up on a routine schedule. For some users, Time Machine doesn’t cut it, because it won’t allow creating bootable backups, it’s impossible to change the backup schedule, and the backups can occupy too much space. Here, we’ll show you how to use Apple Time Machine, and showcase a few apps that you might prefer to Apple’s Time Machine. What is Time Machine?Time Machine is a service from Apple to backup your Mac. It creates a simple “image” or “snapshot” of your Mac, which simply means a compressed file containing everything on your Mac at the time of the backup that you can revert to when needed. Time Machine backups can also be used when you need to boot a new device, or refresh your Mac after returning it to factory settings. Apple’s Time Machine is meant to run in the background, offering a simple, straightforward way to back your Mac up. When activated, it will periodically back your Mac up, keeping the last few versions in case you need to revert to a backup from a few weeks ago. Most will use Time Machine when booting new Macs. On startup, a new Mac asks if you want to start fresh, or boot from a backup. Using Time Machine backups will make you feel like you picked up where you left off. Like most services Apple creates, Time Machine is in both your System Preferences menu and is available as an app for the Mac. How to set up and use Time Machine on MacFor most of us, knowing how to use Time Machine means knowing how to activate it. Because it typically runs in the background, the service isn’t something you need to access often to create backups. But we’ll cover Time Machine to restore Mac computers, to back up your Mac, and how to use Time Machine to restore files as well. Setting Time Machine up is really simple. Here’s how:
Note: These directions will show you how to use Time Machine to set up automatic backups.
That’s all you need to do. Once you complete these steps. Time Machine will begin creating a backup to the disk you’ve designated on a schedule. Unfortunately, you’re unable to manage this schedule yourself. How to use Time Machine with an Apple AirPort Time CapsuleApple used to make routers, and one of their best was the AirPort Time Capsule. You can still find Time Capsules for sale, and if you can source one, we highly recommend it. Not only are they excellent routers, the AirPort Time Capsule works perfectly with Time Machine. Note: Since Apple discontinued AirPort Time Capsule in 2018, many users reported drive failures, which, according to experts, could be caused by the use of Time Capsule. So we don’t recommend relying on this backup method unless you have solid tech expertise and know what you’re doing. The Time Capsule has a one or two-terabyte hard drive inside it, making it both a router and external drive for Time Machine backups. As you see in the screenshot above, our Time Machine is backing up to a Time Capsule. All you have to do is to set up your AirPort Time Capsule as the main router for your network and make sure your Mac is connecting to the network the AirPort is on. Then, choose the AirPort Time Capsule as the external drive you want to save backups to. That’s it! The best part about using this method is when you reconnect a Mac reset to factory settings or buy a new Mac, and log into the same network, you know your backups are available. How to restore Mac from Time MachineRestoring a Mac from a Time Machine backup is straightforward, but not always the best option. Having done it, we can attest it can take days for your Mac to get back up and running when restoring from a backup. Consider whether or not you have time to devote to that process. We should also note since Apple has stopped making the AirPort Time Capsule there’s little chance Time Machine will improve in this area. Consider why you’re trying to restore your Mac from a Time Machine backup, too. Sometimes we restore to a backup because we believe we’ve lost a file that was crucial. If we go back in time, the file will be there, right? Maybe, but the process is time-consuming, and not always accurate. A better option may be Disk Drill. It recovers lost files with ease – or at least files you think you’d lost. With Disk Drill, you may be able to find those lost files without the trouble of diving into Time Machine backups and wasting hours (or days!) restoring your Mac for one file:
If, however, you do need to roll back to your previous backup and restore all the files and app data it contained, here’s how to do it:
Alternatively, you can use Migration Assistant (you’ll find it in Applications > Utilities) to move data from your Time Machine backup to Mac. How to restore from Time Machine to a new MacReady to learn how to use Time Machine on new Mac computers? We’ve got you covered. Here’s how it’s done:
That’s all you need to do. Your Mac will begin the process of transferring your data from the Time Machine backup. Restore your Mac from a backup: Our favorite methodNow that you know how to restore your data from Time Machine backups, we won’t pretend it’s the best way to take care of your data. A failing of Time Machine is you lack granular control. There’s no way to really define the files or folders you want to back up, and you can’t define a backup schedule that works for you. Instead, Get Backup Pro may be the better solution for you. Get Backup Pro allows you to customize the backup schedule that works for you. If you’d rather have a weekly backup on Friday night after your work week is done, it can handle that. You’re also given a lot more control over the files and folders you back up — you can include only specific data in your backup. And you can save your bootable backups to external drives. Another advantage is that Get Backup Pro compresses backups to a really small size (60% smaller than Time Machine), which speeds up the backup process by quite a bit. Here’s how to back up data with Get Backup Pro:
Here’s how to restore data from the Get Backup Pro backup:
Extra tip: How to speed up your MacIn addition to files, folders, apps, and things you interact with daily, Mac backups also include things like settings for apps, the system, and even browser history. Those all add up to a whole bunch of garbage cluttering your system. This is where CleanMyMac X shines. The app pokes through your Mac to ensure all of your settings are optimized, the file system is well organized, and unnecessary stuff like browser cookies and mail attachments are disposed of when appropriate. It runs on a schedule, and allows you some deep granular control over which settings and systems are optimized. Run CleanMyMac X on a routine schedule, and you’ll know all of your backups will be running smoothly once you boot them. Back up, restore, and organize files with SetappBacking your Mac up is really important; everyone should do it on a routine basis. Time Machine is a great option, but also very basic and time-consuming. Many may prefer to back up with Get Backup Pro, which allows for a lot more control, and compresses backups far better than Time Machine. When used with CleanMyMac X, you’ll always know your backups are clean, organized, and free of any weird settings or bloatware you forgot about. Those trying to use Time Machine to recover lost files should try Disk Drill. More often than not, you’ll restore your files quickly with Disk Drill, saving you a ton of time with backups. All three of these apps are available for free as part of a seven-day trial of Setapp, the world’s best suite of productivity apps for your Mac. When your trial is through, continued unlimited access to the full Setapp catalog of nearly 200 Mac apps is only $9.99 per month. How to use Time Machine FAQHow much space does Time Machine need?Time Machine will use up as much space as you give it — it’s just the way it works. While Time Machine normally creates backups every 24 hours, it will keep storing new and new backups on the drive. Once the space is used up, Time Machine will start deleting the oldest backups. Generally, it’s recommended that you allocate at least 2 times more storage than you have on your internal drive to backups. A better solution would be to create better-compressed backups and keep them on external hard drives with Get Backup Pro. How to turn off Time Machine?You can turn off Time Machine by disabling automatic backups in System Preferences > Time Machine. Note that you’ll still need to manually delete all the backups made with Time Machine if you want to free up space. How to set up Time Machine on Mac without external hard drive?You can set Time Machine to store backups on your internal hard drive. For convenience, you can create a separate partition on your disk dedicated to backups. But don’t forget that Time Machine backups can occupy a big chunk of disk space, so you should be ready to give it up. How do I restore my Mac using Time Machine?How to Restore macOS with Time Machine. Make sure your Time Machine backup disk is connected to your computer.. Restart your Mac.. While the system is turning on, hold down the Command + R keys. ... . Release the keys when you see the Apple logo on your screen. ... . Then select Restore from Time Machine backup, and click Continue.. Does Time Machine backup everything on your Mac?When Time Machine is turned on, it automatically backs up your Mac and performs hourly, daily, and weekly backups of your files. When you use Time Machine, Time Machine also saves local snapshots you can use to recover previous versions of files, even if your backup disk is not attached.
How do I access Time Machine backups on Mac?Click the Time Machine icon in the menu bar, then choose Enter Time Machine. If the Time Machine icon isn't in the menu bar, choose Apple menu > System Preferences, click Time Machine , then select “Show Time Machine in menu bar.” Use the arrows and timeline to browse the Time Machine backups.
How do I backup an external hard drive with Time Machine?How to Back Up With Time Machine. Plug in your Backup Plus to your system.. Open Time Machine from your Menu Bar (or from System Preferences).. Choose Select Backup Disk.. Select Seagate Backup Plus Drive (or the external drive as shown) connected to your Mac, and choose Use for Backup.. |