- How To Use Time Machine Backup On Mac
- Time Machine On Mac
- Backup Using Time Machine
- How To Use Time Machine Backup On Macbook
Enabling Mac Time Machine Backups Select the Time Machine icon from the System Preferences Apple Menu. Click Select Backup Disk. Select which disk you'd like to use as a Time Machine backup. Backing up a Mac with Time Machine requires an external hard drive formatted for macOS. Formatting the drive will erase everything on it and configure it for macOS. After formatting the drive, if prompted to back up with Time Machine, select Use as Backup Disk. This will open the Time Machine preferences window and start your first backup. Open Time Machine preferences from the Time Machine menu in the menu bar. Or choose Apple menu System Preferences, then click Time Machine. Click Select Backup Disk. Select your backup disk from the list of available disks.
None of us can deny the importance of personal data that we have in our computer or mobile devices. And this is the reason that a lot is discussed about backing up of the data so that in the unavoidable circumstances of a device crash or a ransomware attack or theft you can get back your data easily. Now with cloud backup programs coming into picture the backing up and restoring of data has really become easy, fast and reliable. But for this new way of backing up data and then restoring at the time you need you need an active, affordable and above all high speed Internet connection. Therefore still many users prefer the conventional method of backing up data on an external drive.
And if you are a Mac user then the easiest way for you to backup all your photos, music, apps, documents to an external storage device is using Time Machine, a built in utility that comes with your macOS. How? That we are going to learn in this article.
Backup your Mac Using Time Machine
Note: The only prerequisite for creating a backup through Time Machine is an external hard drive.
Basically, when Time Machine backup is first enabled on Mac, it automatically starts backing up all your data like documents, photos, music and apps to an external connected storage device. And, once the initial backup completes, Time Machine keeps on updating the backup by scanning your Mac for the latest or deleted or revised files on a per hour basis.
Moreover, as per the storage space available on your external hard drive, Time Machine automatically creates hourly backups for the past 24 hours, daily backups for the past month and weekly backups for all the previous months. And, if the External Storage device is full, Time Machine removes the older backups automatically to create space for daily backups.
Which Storage Drive is used for Time Machine Backup
Time Machine can create backup to any Storage Device which is connected to your Mac, via FireWire Port of your Mac, Thunderbolt or the USB of your Mac.
Apart from this you can use a Network-attached storage device that supports Time Machine over SMB to create Time Machine backups. Another Mac on the same network can also be used to store Time Machine backup.
AirPort Time Capsule, or an external drive connected to an AirPort Time capsule or AirPort Extreme Base Station (802.11ac) is another additional option to create backup via Time Machine.
Bonus Tip: For the optimum use of Time Machine backups, the storage space of an external drive should be greater or at least equal to the storage capacity of the Hard Drive attached to your Mac. This will allow Time Machine to save multiple versions of any data or file, which in-turn will help you to recover your files as per their previous version or state.
Note: If the attached Storage device is not in the right format, Time Machine will prompt you to Format the Drive.
What's Included and What's Not in Time Machine Backup?
As per stated on Apple support page, you can use Time Machine to back up all files except the ones that are part of the macOS installation. These include music, photos, apps and documents. And as discussed earlier, when you enable Time Machine it automatically backs up the data of your Mac.
However, when it comes to backing up your Photos library, although Apple suggest you to back up your Photos library locally using Time Machine(even though you have backed them on iCloud) but some test and user results suggest that instead of automatically backing up your Photos library through Time Machine it is advisable to backup it manually. This is because, when you backup your Photos Library through Time Machine, it completely misses out the database folder within the library that stores all vital metadata. And this causes problems while restoring the data from Time Machine backup.
Also Read: How to Backup iPhone Photos to Google Photos
Enable Time Machine Backup on Mac
To start with the process, first connect an external storage device to your Mac and follow the instructions listed below to enable Time Machine Backups on your Mac.
1. On the top-menu bar click on the Apple Menu icon. Now from the drop-down menu select System Preferences. This will open the System Preferences window.
2. On the System Preferences screen, click on the Time Machine option.
3. Now on the Time Machine screen, click on the Select Backup Disk button on the right side.
Note: Make sure to check the option, Show Time Machine in the Menu bar to access Time Machine in future from the menu bar. Also, make sure to check the Back Up Automatically option.
4. Now On the next screen, select the External Hard Drive that is connected to your Mac and click on Use Disk button.
If the format of the attached external Drive is incompatible with macOS, then you will receive a prompt to Erase the Disk.
5. Now wait for all the files of your Mac to be backed up to the External Drive. The initial backup will take longer to complete as compared to subsequent backups.
Note: After the initial backup, the process of backing up data in future will be automated that will continue in the background, as long as the backup external disk remains connected to Mac.
Exclude Files From Time Machine Backup
As discussed earlier Time Machine (by default) automatically backups all the files of your Mac to the assigned external device.
Although, continuing with this default setting will help you in restoring all the files of your Mac whenever required from a Time Machine Backup, however, this will back up a lot of data on a day to day basis.
So to avoid this you can exclude some specific files or folders of your Mac from Time Machine Backup by following the steps below.
1. On the top-menu bar click on the Apple Menu icon. Now from the drop-down menu select System Preferences. This will open the System Preferences window.
2. On the System Preferences screen, click on the Time Machine option.
3. Now on the Time Machine screen, click on the Options button located at the lower-right corner of the screen.
4. On the Exclude Items screen, click on the + button at the bottom left.
5. Now, on the next screen, select the files or folder that you do not want to be backed up on Time Machine Backups. Once selected click on the Exclude button. You can exclude entire Documents, Applications, Downloads, and Desktop along with User Folders.
6. Click on the Save button to save the list of folders that are excluded from Time Machine Backup.
Once done the items added to the exclusion list will not be included in the Time Machine Backups.
Also Read: How To Delete iPhone Backups On Mac
Remove Files from Exclusion in Time Machine
In the future if you want to backup the entire Mac then you can remove the folders that you have added in the exclusion list of Time Machine backup. To remove the folders and files from the exclusion list follow the steps listed below.
1. On the top-menu bar click on the Apple Menu icon. Now from the drop-down menu select System Preferences. This will open the System Preferences window.
2. On the System Preferences screen, click on the Time Machine option.
3. On the Time Machine screen, click on the Options button.
4. Now On the next screen, select all the Items that you want to remove from the Exclusion and click on the' – ‘button.
5. Once done, click on the Save button to implement the changes.
Now the removed items will again be included in Time Machine Backups.
Advantages of Time Machine Backups
The main advantage of Time Machine is that it backs up the data automatically in an optimized way. This means only at the initial setup the backup of your entire disk will be created, and after that Time Machine will just copy the revised and new files instead of copying the data all over again. This will not only make the subsequent backup quick and fast but also optimize the storage space on your hard drive.
Another advantage of Time Machine backups is that users have an option to either backup the entire drive or exclude some specific folders. Moreover, since the backup is on a physical drive you do not have to pay for the internet charge that occurs due to downloading and uploading of the data.
Wrapping Up
So folks this is how to backup your Mac using Time Machine. If you have any further questions, suggestions or feedback regarding the article then do share them in the comments section below. Also if you have any question on restoring your data then check our article How To Restore Mac From Time Machine Backup
Dec 21, 2020 • Filed to: Solve Mac Problems • Proven solutions
Have you recently bought a Mac? Do you know about the in-built backup feature of the Mac OS? Mac comes with Time Machine that is the most recent backup feature in it. This excellent tool tracks your every activity or changes made in your system files that make it easy for you to recover any lost data or changes.
The outstanding features of the Time Machine are surprisingly amazing. If you are wondering how to set up Time Machine on Mac and how do I use Time Machine, then we would like to tell you that it is much simpler.
In this article, you will learn all about Time Machine, how it back up with the machine, how to use it to restore files, and the other options with which you can recover Mac files.
Part 1. Overview of Time Machine on Mac
The backup application software, Time Machine, introduced by MAC OS X Leopard, is the part of your Mac Operating System that is developed by Apple. It can work with AirPort Time Capsule, Wi-Fi router that has an in-built hard disk, and other internal and external drives.
Let us learn a more about Time Machine, how it works, and for what it is used for.
1. What's Time Machine
Time Machine is an in-built feature of your Mac that helps to take a backup of your Mac operating system. It is the best backup solution, and the exciting thing is that it is part of your operating system.
If you want to make a wireless connection, connect it over a network. But for wired connection, you need to connect an external hard drive.
It backup your data every hour, and the oldest backup gets deleted when the drive runs out of space.
2. What Is Time Machine Used for
Time Machine is used to back up your Mac completely. It includes apps, music, system files, emails, photos, videos, and all your documents. When you turn on the machine, it will start the hourly, daily, weekly backups automatically.
3. How Does Time Machine Work on Mac
How To Use Time Machine Backup On Mac
When you use the in-built Time Machine to take backups that can be restored later, it back up the entire system and even specific files. The machine captures the most recent changes, and when it gets old in comparison to the newer data or alterations, these are deleted.
You can get a backup from the last 24 hours, daily, weekly, and even monthly backup. But when the space gets limited older backups are deleted.
Different types of external devices that you can use to set up time machine backup are:
- External USB, FireWire drive or Thunderbolt
- External drive connected to AirPort Time Capsule or AirPort Extreme Base Station
- Mac used as a backup destination for TimeMachine
- NAS – Network-attached storage device that time Machine Supports
4. Where Is Time Machine on Mac
The inbuilt Time-machine backup feature on the Mac operating system stores a copy of the most recent data and can be searched very easily.
- It is stored on your external backup disk
- Search it in the path: Apple menu -> System preferences -> TimeMachine
Part 2. How to Backup with Time Machine
The in-built time Machine app is very beneficial and simple to use. In this part, you will learn what does machine backup, how to backup, how long it will take to backup, and how to set preferences. Read on to learn about all.
1. What Does Time Machine Backup
You can backup your complete Mac with the Time Machine. From system files to apps, photos, music, emails, documents, everything. Once Time Machine is turned on, it automatically starts back up of the Mac also takes hourly, daily, weekly, and monthly backups.
The machine not only stores the backup on your connected external back up disk but also saves the snapshots of the changes on your internal disk. This makes it easier for you to recover your previous versions.
Time Machine On Mac
All these snapshots get saved on an hourly basis till the time you deselect the option – backup automatically. So, while working on your Mac, if you accidentally delete any data, you can easily recover it from the Time Machine backup.
APFS users can get these snapshots from the APFS disk irrespective of the disk is portable or on your desktop Mac.
2. How to Backup Using Time Machine
At times some of the useful data get accidentally deleted. During such instances, these prove very advantageous. It helps to get your data back into your system.
The 'Time Machine' in your Mac helps you get backup of your data. You can take automatic backups with this in-built backup feature, 'Time Machine'. From photos to music, apps, documents, system files, and email, it can backup all.
Are you thinking about how to use Time Machine to backup? Here are the steps that will guide you on how to back up with Time Machine.
Step 1: Connect an external storage device
Step 2: After a successful connection, select the connected device as your backup disk.
Step 3: When prompted, pick 'Encrypt Backup Disk' and then select 'Use as Backup Disk.'
Encrypted data remains secure, as only users that have a password of this backup can access it.
If your Mac Time Machine does not ask for a drive, add it manually. Click on the 'Time Machine Preferences' from the menu.
Select the option Backup Disk.
Select the connected external drive and check the checkbox Encrypt backups. Now you can click on the Use Disk button.
Step 4: Click on Erase
If your external drive is not of the format required by the Time Machine, Mac OS prompts you to erase the connected disk first. All the information on the disk gets erased in this process.
Step 5: Your periodic backup automatically starts with the Time Machine. Click on close when the backup completes.
If the backup is for the first time, it will take a little longer. But after this, the backups will be much quicker. In the periodic backups, TimeMachine will only backup the files that observe any changes from the previous backup.
As only the required files are backup and not the entire data stored on the system, this makes the backup process faster.
3. How Long Does Time Machine Backup Take
When the time machine takes the first backup of your Mac, it will perform a full backup. So, it may take some time to finish with the complete process of the first backup. Once it is complete, Time Machine checks your Mac for every changed, deleted, and new data on an hourly basis. All these backups after the first backup are much quicker than the initial one.
All the previous backups remain saved for 24 hours. After 24 hours, a daily backup is saved for a complete month. Weekly backups are also saved, but only till the external drive does not fall short of space. The moment backup drive is full, old backups get deleted from the in-built backup machine.
4. How to Set up Time Machine Backup Preferences
As the Time Machine helps to back up your Mac, you can also set preferences to allow this in-built feature to take backup as per your requirements.
You can set to backup with specific options like to send you a notification when your old backup is getting deleted, what files to include in the backup, and what needs to be excluded.
Do you want to set up Time Machine with the new preferences? If yes, then check here.
Step 1: Select the Apple menu
Step 2: Click on System Preferences
Step 3: Select Time Machine
Step 4: Click on Options
You can find this option in the right corner at the bottom of the screen
Step 5: Press on the '+' sign and then choose the file, folders, applications, files, or the hard drive that you want to exclude from the backup. After making the selection, click on 'Exclude.' Other options that you can select are:
- Back-Up Automatically: Select to allow Time Machine to backup files automatically.
- Select Backup Disk, Disk, Remove or Add Backup Disk.
- You can also select the option to allow Time Machine to show up in the menu bar.
Part 3. How to Use Time Machine to Restore Files
Taking backup of files stored on your Mac is very simple with Mac's in-built Time Machine. However, when you have lost or deleted some of your important data from the Mac, you need to restore it from the backup taken by your Mac.
As taking backup is easy, Apple has also made it easy to restore it too. If you want to restore the previous backup, you will learn how to do that in this part.
Along with learning how to restore files, you will also learn here what you can restore, how long the restoration process takes, and how you can set up restore preferences.
1. What Can Be Restored from Time Machine
You can restore your complete Mac from TimeMachine. Your backup can help you get back your files and also Mac OS specific versions that you were using at the time of the creation of the backup. Adobe reader 8 1 mac download.
And if you are a Mac user then the easiest way for you to backup all your photos, music, apps, documents to an external storage device is using Time Machine, a built in utility that comes with your macOS. How? That we are going to learn in this article.
Backup your Mac Using Time Machine
Note: The only prerequisite for creating a backup through Time Machine is an external hard drive.
Basically, when Time Machine backup is first enabled on Mac, it automatically starts backing up all your data like documents, photos, music and apps to an external connected storage device. And, once the initial backup completes, Time Machine keeps on updating the backup by scanning your Mac for the latest or deleted or revised files on a per hour basis.
Moreover, as per the storage space available on your external hard drive, Time Machine automatically creates hourly backups for the past 24 hours, daily backups for the past month and weekly backups for all the previous months. And, if the External Storage device is full, Time Machine removes the older backups automatically to create space for daily backups.
Which Storage Drive is used for Time Machine Backup
Time Machine can create backup to any Storage Device which is connected to your Mac, via FireWire Port of your Mac, Thunderbolt or the USB of your Mac.
Apart from this you can use a Network-attached storage device that supports Time Machine over SMB to create Time Machine backups. Another Mac on the same network can also be used to store Time Machine backup.
AirPort Time Capsule, or an external drive connected to an AirPort Time capsule or AirPort Extreme Base Station (802.11ac) is another additional option to create backup via Time Machine.
Bonus Tip: For the optimum use of Time Machine backups, the storage space of an external drive should be greater or at least equal to the storage capacity of the Hard Drive attached to your Mac. This will allow Time Machine to save multiple versions of any data or file, which in-turn will help you to recover your files as per their previous version or state.
Note: If the attached Storage device is not in the right format, Time Machine will prompt you to Format the Drive.
What's Included and What's Not in Time Machine Backup?
As per stated on Apple support page, you can use Time Machine to back up all files except the ones that are part of the macOS installation. These include music, photos, apps and documents. And as discussed earlier, when you enable Time Machine it automatically backs up the data of your Mac.
However, when it comes to backing up your Photos library, although Apple suggest you to back up your Photos library locally using Time Machine(even though you have backed them on iCloud) but some test and user results suggest that instead of automatically backing up your Photos library through Time Machine it is advisable to backup it manually. This is because, when you backup your Photos Library through Time Machine, it completely misses out the database folder within the library that stores all vital metadata. And this causes problems while restoring the data from Time Machine backup.
Also Read: How to Backup iPhone Photos to Google Photos
Enable Time Machine Backup on Mac
To start with the process, first connect an external storage device to your Mac and follow the instructions listed below to enable Time Machine Backups on your Mac.
1. On the top-menu bar click on the Apple Menu icon. Now from the drop-down menu select System Preferences. This will open the System Preferences window.
2. On the System Preferences screen, click on the Time Machine option.
3. Now on the Time Machine screen, click on the Select Backup Disk button on the right side.
Note: Make sure to check the option, Show Time Machine in the Menu bar to access Time Machine in future from the menu bar. Also, make sure to check the Back Up Automatically option.
4. Now On the next screen, select the External Hard Drive that is connected to your Mac and click on Use Disk button.
If the format of the attached external Drive is incompatible with macOS, then you will receive a prompt to Erase the Disk.
5. Now wait for all the files of your Mac to be backed up to the External Drive. The initial backup will take longer to complete as compared to subsequent backups.
Note: After the initial backup, the process of backing up data in future will be automated that will continue in the background, as long as the backup external disk remains connected to Mac.
Exclude Files From Time Machine Backup
As discussed earlier Time Machine (by default) automatically backups all the files of your Mac to the assigned external device.
Although, continuing with this default setting will help you in restoring all the files of your Mac whenever required from a Time Machine Backup, however, this will back up a lot of data on a day to day basis.
So to avoid this you can exclude some specific files or folders of your Mac from Time Machine Backup by following the steps below.
1. On the top-menu bar click on the Apple Menu icon. Now from the drop-down menu select System Preferences. This will open the System Preferences window.
2. On the System Preferences screen, click on the Time Machine option.
3. Now on the Time Machine screen, click on the Options button located at the lower-right corner of the screen.
4. On the Exclude Items screen, click on the + button at the bottom left.
5. Now, on the next screen, select the files or folder that you do not want to be backed up on Time Machine Backups. Once selected click on the Exclude button. You can exclude entire Documents, Applications, Downloads, and Desktop along with User Folders.
6. Click on the Save button to save the list of folders that are excluded from Time Machine Backup.
Once done the items added to the exclusion list will not be included in the Time Machine Backups.
Also Read: How To Delete iPhone Backups On Mac
Remove Files from Exclusion in Time Machine
In the future if you want to backup the entire Mac then you can remove the folders that you have added in the exclusion list of Time Machine backup. To remove the folders and files from the exclusion list follow the steps listed below.
1. On the top-menu bar click on the Apple Menu icon. Now from the drop-down menu select System Preferences. This will open the System Preferences window.
2. On the System Preferences screen, click on the Time Machine option.
3. On the Time Machine screen, click on the Options button.
4. Now On the next screen, select all the Items that you want to remove from the Exclusion and click on the' – ‘button.
5. Once done, click on the Save button to implement the changes.
Now the removed items will again be included in Time Machine Backups.
Advantages of Time Machine Backups
The main advantage of Time Machine is that it backs up the data automatically in an optimized way. This means only at the initial setup the backup of your entire disk will be created, and after that Time Machine will just copy the revised and new files instead of copying the data all over again. This will not only make the subsequent backup quick and fast but also optimize the storage space on your hard drive.
Another advantage of Time Machine backups is that users have an option to either backup the entire drive or exclude some specific folders. Moreover, since the backup is on a physical drive you do not have to pay for the internet charge that occurs due to downloading and uploading of the data.
Wrapping Up
So folks this is how to backup your Mac using Time Machine. If you have any further questions, suggestions or feedback regarding the article then do share them in the comments section below. Also if you have any question on restoring your data then check our article How To Restore Mac From Time Machine Backup
Dec 21, 2020 • Filed to: Solve Mac Problems • Proven solutions
Have you recently bought a Mac? Do you know about the in-built backup feature of the Mac OS? Mac comes with Time Machine that is the most recent backup feature in it. This excellent tool tracks your every activity or changes made in your system files that make it easy for you to recover any lost data or changes.
The outstanding features of the Time Machine are surprisingly amazing. If you are wondering how to set up Time Machine on Mac and how do I use Time Machine, then we would like to tell you that it is much simpler.
In this article, you will learn all about Time Machine, how it back up with the machine, how to use it to restore files, and the other options with which you can recover Mac files.
Part 1. Overview of Time Machine on Mac
The backup application software, Time Machine, introduced by MAC OS X Leopard, is the part of your Mac Operating System that is developed by Apple. It can work with AirPort Time Capsule, Wi-Fi router that has an in-built hard disk, and other internal and external drives.
Let us learn a more about Time Machine, how it works, and for what it is used for.
1. What's Time Machine
Time Machine is an in-built feature of your Mac that helps to take a backup of your Mac operating system. It is the best backup solution, and the exciting thing is that it is part of your operating system.
If you want to make a wireless connection, connect it over a network. But for wired connection, you need to connect an external hard drive.
It backup your data every hour, and the oldest backup gets deleted when the drive runs out of space.
2. What Is Time Machine Used for
Time Machine is used to back up your Mac completely. It includes apps, music, system files, emails, photos, videos, and all your documents. When you turn on the machine, it will start the hourly, daily, weekly backups automatically.
3. How Does Time Machine Work on Mac
How To Use Time Machine Backup On Mac
When you use the in-built Time Machine to take backups that can be restored later, it back up the entire system and even specific files. The machine captures the most recent changes, and when it gets old in comparison to the newer data or alterations, these are deleted.
You can get a backup from the last 24 hours, daily, weekly, and even monthly backup. But when the space gets limited older backups are deleted.
Different types of external devices that you can use to set up time machine backup are:
- External USB, FireWire drive or Thunderbolt
- External drive connected to AirPort Time Capsule or AirPort Extreme Base Station
- Mac used as a backup destination for TimeMachine
- NAS – Network-attached storage device that time Machine Supports
4. Where Is Time Machine on Mac
The inbuilt Time-machine backup feature on the Mac operating system stores a copy of the most recent data and can be searched very easily.
- It is stored on your external backup disk
- Search it in the path: Apple menu -> System preferences -> TimeMachine
Part 2. How to Backup with Time Machine
The in-built time Machine app is very beneficial and simple to use. In this part, you will learn what does machine backup, how to backup, how long it will take to backup, and how to set preferences. Read on to learn about all.
1. What Does Time Machine Backup
You can backup your complete Mac with the Time Machine. From system files to apps, photos, music, emails, documents, everything. Once Time Machine is turned on, it automatically starts back up of the Mac also takes hourly, daily, weekly, and monthly backups.
The machine not only stores the backup on your connected external back up disk but also saves the snapshots of the changes on your internal disk. This makes it easier for you to recover your previous versions.
Time Machine On Mac
All these snapshots get saved on an hourly basis till the time you deselect the option – backup automatically. So, while working on your Mac, if you accidentally delete any data, you can easily recover it from the Time Machine backup.
APFS users can get these snapshots from the APFS disk irrespective of the disk is portable or on your desktop Mac.
2. How to Backup Using Time Machine
At times some of the useful data get accidentally deleted. During such instances, these prove very advantageous. It helps to get your data back into your system.
The 'Time Machine' in your Mac helps you get backup of your data. You can take automatic backups with this in-built backup feature, 'Time Machine'. From photos to music, apps, documents, system files, and email, it can backup all.
Are you thinking about how to use Time Machine to backup? Here are the steps that will guide you on how to back up with Time Machine.
Step 1: Connect an external storage device
Step 2: After a successful connection, select the connected device as your backup disk.
Step 3: When prompted, pick 'Encrypt Backup Disk' and then select 'Use as Backup Disk.'
Encrypted data remains secure, as only users that have a password of this backup can access it.
If your Mac Time Machine does not ask for a drive, add it manually. Click on the 'Time Machine Preferences' from the menu.
Select the option Backup Disk.
Select the connected external drive and check the checkbox Encrypt backups. Now you can click on the Use Disk button.
Step 4: Click on Erase
If your external drive is not of the format required by the Time Machine, Mac OS prompts you to erase the connected disk first. All the information on the disk gets erased in this process.
Step 5: Your periodic backup automatically starts with the Time Machine. Click on close when the backup completes.
If the backup is for the first time, it will take a little longer. But after this, the backups will be much quicker. In the periodic backups, TimeMachine will only backup the files that observe any changes from the previous backup.
As only the required files are backup and not the entire data stored on the system, this makes the backup process faster.
3. How Long Does Time Machine Backup Take
When the time machine takes the first backup of your Mac, it will perform a full backup. So, it may take some time to finish with the complete process of the first backup. Once it is complete, Time Machine checks your Mac for every changed, deleted, and new data on an hourly basis. All these backups after the first backup are much quicker than the initial one.
All the previous backups remain saved for 24 hours. After 24 hours, a daily backup is saved for a complete month. Weekly backups are also saved, but only till the external drive does not fall short of space. The moment backup drive is full, old backups get deleted from the in-built backup machine.
4. How to Set up Time Machine Backup Preferences
As the Time Machine helps to back up your Mac, you can also set preferences to allow this in-built feature to take backup as per your requirements.
You can set to backup with specific options like to send you a notification when your old backup is getting deleted, what files to include in the backup, and what needs to be excluded.
Do you want to set up Time Machine with the new preferences? If yes, then check here.
Step 1: Select the Apple menu
Step 2: Click on System Preferences
Step 3: Select Time Machine
Step 4: Click on Options
You can find this option in the right corner at the bottom of the screen
Step 5: Press on the '+' sign and then choose the file, folders, applications, files, or the hard drive that you want to exclude from the backup. After making the selection, click on 'Exclude.' Other options that you can select are:
- Back-Up Automatically: Select to allow Time Machine to backup files automatically.
- Select Backup Disk, Disk, Remove or Add Backup Disk.
- You can also select the option to allow Time Machine to show up in the menu bar.
Part 3. How to Use Time Machine to Restore Files
Taking backup of files stored on your Mac is very simple with Mac's in-built Time Machine. However, when you have lost or deleted some of your important data from the Mac, you need to restore it from the backup taken by your Mac.
As taking backup is easy, Apple has also made it easy to restore it too. If you want to restore the previous backup, you will learn how to do that in this part.
Along with learning how to restore files, you will also learn here what you can restore, how long the restoration process takes, and how you can set up restore preferences.
1. What Can Be Restored from Time Machine
You can restore your complete Mac from TimeMachine. Your backup can help you get back your files and also Mac OS specific versions that you were using at the time of the creation of the backup. Adobe reader 8 1 mac download.
However, if you do not have your backup disk, then also you can restore your data. The local snapshots taken by the TimeMachine on startup disk helps to restore data back on your system.
2. How to Restore Files with Time Machine
If you have lost any of your data from the Mac, and thinking how to restore files from time machine, proceed with the following steps:
Step 1: Click on System Preferences in the Apple Menu and select Time Machine icon
Step 2: Select the box that is next to the option 'Show Time Machine.'
Step 3: Click on 'Time Machine' from the menu and then on 'Enter Time Machine.'
Step 4: Click Restore after selecting on the required file or folder
Step 5: Once you click on restore, Time Machine will copy the desired file or folder back to its location where it has initially been saved on your system.
3. How Long Does Time Machine Restore Take
Restoring a backup is very easy. We have already discussed the steps above. However, if you are restoring a single file or a few files, the process will be comparatively faster than the one if you are restoring your complete Mac data.
When you click on restore, you will be asked for how you need to restore data. Like whether you want to replace existing versions of the files that are under restoration process or you want to keep both versions. Select your option and follow the on-screen instructions to complete the data restoration process.
If you are restoring more files, be a little patient as it may take some time.
4. How to Set up Time Machine Restore Preferences
You can restore the things that you need to restore selectively. Selecting the preferred backup files is very easy. Just follow the below steps to restore only your needed files:
Step 1: Open Finder and select the Time Machine drive
Step 2: Browse the folder and reach to the latest link for opening the backup folder
Step 3: Find and select that you need to restore by browsing this folder. After selecting, click on restore.
Backup Using Time Machine
If you want to select only the files and not the settings, you can simply drag or copy the files or folders that you need.
In this way, you can get back only the stuff that you need in your Mac. However, you still have the chance to get back any of the other files or folders till the time the backup is not deleted.
Part 4. More Options for Mac Files Recovery
If you have lost your backup, as the TimeMachine deletes the oldest backup when the drive gets full, you can still restore any of your deleted data. Must be thinking about how? Well Recoverit, is one of the best data recovery software for Mac users. It recovers your lost and deleted files with its 3 easy steps and that too in minutes.
The software can restore data lost in any scenario, it may be deletion, empty Trash, virus attack, driver issue, card error, formatting, Mac crash, etc.
Solution 1. Restore Files from Mac Trash
When you delete a file from your system, it moves to Mac Trash temporarily. This gives you a chance to restore files that you might have accidentally or unintentionally deleted. But if you have emptied your Trash, then you lose them forever. But with Recoverit, you still get the chance to recover these files.
As the data in the Trash is from different partitions, hard drives, sectors, so scanning it takes some. You can recover files with two modules: an all-around scan as well as a deep scan.
Follow the below steps to recover files deleted from your Mac Trash.
Step 1: Select Trash
How To Use Time Machine Backup On Macbook
Select 'Trash' to recover deleted data from the emptied Trash. You can find the 'Trash' option in the location tab. After selecting 'Trash' click on scan to begin the scanning.
Step 2: Scan Trash
When you click on start, from the two different recover modes, a quick scan will be started first. The scan will take only a few minutes to complete the process.
However, if you are unable to find files with the quick scan, you can proceed with the advanced scan. It will do a more in-depth search and recover your deleted files of any format or size.
Step 3: Preview and Save
Once the scanning completes, you can locate the recovered files, preview it, and select them for recovery. When you click on recovery, the software prompts you to select the location at which you need to save the file.
Solution 2. Recover Data with Mac Utility
Disk Utility is another solution with which you can recover your lost data of corrupt Mac hard drive. You can launch the Mac utility via recovery mode and proceed with the Mac disk repair procedure. Perform this absolutely free procedure with the below steps:
Step 1: Reboot your macOS and keep pressing the keys Command + R till it boots into the Recovery Mode.
Step 2: Click on Disk Utility when you reach the Recovery mode.
Step 3: Select Macintosh HD and click on First Aid to begin repairing disk errors of your Mac hard drive.
When the Disk Utility repair completes, you can get two outcomes:
- Disk repaired successfully: If the disk is successfully repaired, you can log out and boot into your Mac like you usually do.
- Disk Utility Can not Repair Corrupt Drive: Disk Utility has certain limitations due to which it can not repair all types of corruption. Like it is unable to repair the corrupt partition map. For this, you need to erase hard drive with the new partition scheme. If you do this, you will lose all your data because the process erases the drive. In such a scenario you can refer Recoverit Data Recovery Tool for recovering lost data
Closing Words
Whether you are new to Mac or already a Mac user, it is always easy to prevent losing data because of any accidental deletion. The in-built Time Machine takes backup of all your data at regular intervals and allows you to store it whenever you feel the need for it.
If by any chance, your backup is lost, you can recover files with Recoverit Data Recovery tool.
What's Wrong with Mac
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