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.
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To use another Mac on your network as a Time Machine backup destination, complete these steps on the other Mac: Choose Apple menu System Preferences, then click Sharing. From the list of services on the left, select File Sharing. From the list of Shared Folders on the right, Control-click the folder that you want to use for Time Machine backups.
When Time Machine backs up your data, the ”Backing Up” indicator appears and increments: If you see an alert message in the Time Machine menu, or you can't back up at all, see If you can't back up or restore your Mac using Time Machine. If your Time Machine backup is working but it takes longer than you expect, check these things.
Time Machine is Apple's software to back up your Mac, and it comes with every Mac. All you need is a separate storage device, or a MacOS Server, to back up to. Time Machine keeps a copy of.
Click on the System Preferences option from the Apple menu located at the top left part of your.
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.
Apple Imac 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.
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:
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 (or Select Disk, or Add or Remove Backup Disk):
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.
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.
Learn more
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.
Apple Time Machine
Astute graphics plugins elite bundle 2 0 11. If you used Time Machine to create a backup of your Mac, you can restore your files from that backup or a local snapshot on your startup disk. You might want to restore your files after the originals were deleted from your Mac, or the hard disk (or SSD) in your Mac was erased or replaced, such as during a repair.
Restore from a Time Machine backup
When you restore from a Time Machine backup, you can choose to restore all your files, or restore both the Mac operating system (macOS) and all your files.
Restore all your files
Make sure that your Time Machine backup disk is connected to your Mac and turned on. Then turn on your Mac.
Open Migration Assistant, which in the Utilities folder of your Applications folder.
If your Mac starts up to a setup assistant, which asks for details like your country, keyboard, and network, just continue to the next step. The setup assistant includes a migration assistant.
If your Mac doesn't start up all the way, or you also want to restore the macOS you were using when you created the backup, follow the steps to restore both macOS and your files.
When you're asked how you want to transfer your information, select the option to transfer from a Mac, Time Machine backup, or startup disk. Then click Continue.
Select your Time Machine backup, then click Continue.
If you're asked to choose from a list of backups organized by date and time, choose a backup and click Continue.
Select the information to transfer, then click Continue to start the transfer. This screen might look different on your Mac:
If you have a lot of content, the transfer might take several hours to finish. When the transfer is complete, restart your Mac and log in to the migrated account to see its files.
Restore both macOS and your files
These steps erase your hard disk, then use your backup to restore both your files and the specific version of macOS you were using when you created the backup.
Make sure that your Time Machine backup disk is connected and turned on. If your backup disk isn't available, keep going: You might be able to restore from a local snapshot on your startup disk.
Turn on your Mac, then immediately press and hold Command (⌘)-R to start up from macOS Recovery. Release the keys when you see the Apple logo or spinning globe.
When you see the macOS Utilities window, choose the option to restore from a Time Machine Backup.
Click Continue until you're asked to select a restore source, then select your Time Machine backup disk. Or select your startup disk (Macintosh HD), which might have a local snapshot you can restore from.
Click Continue. If your disk is encrypted, you're asked to unlock the disk: Enter the administrator password you used when setting up Time Machine, then click Continue again.
Select a backup, if available, then click Continue.
Select a destination disk, which will receive the contents of your backup. If restoring from a local snapshot, you aren't asked to select a destination.
Click Restore or Continue. If your Mac has FileVault turned on, you're asked to enter your administrator password to unlock the disk.
When done, restart your Mac.
Restore specific files
Pdf squeezer 3 10 5 inch. Learn how to use Time Machine to restore specific files, including older versions of your files.
Learn more
What to do if you can't restore with Time Machine. If you need help, contact Apple Support.