Although you may not think so, you do have files (photos, documents) you don’t want to lose on your Mac and apps you don’t want to reinstall.
Best Format For Mac Time Machine Backup. You’ll also see HFS+ listed inside your MacBook Pro, MacBook Air or iMac’s operating system as Mac OS Extended (Journaled). They are the same thing. It’s the best format to use for your external hard drive. Because it’s the only format that your Mac’s Time Machine software will use for a. Safely deleting these files and “cleaning up” Time Machine may fix any issues you’re having with backups. To do this, you’ll need to first turn Time Machine off: Open System Preferences and go to the Time Machine tab deselect Back Up Automatically. Next, clean up Time Machine’s working files: Open Finder. Go to your external hard drive. Thank you leroydouglas and db24401. I'm slowly getting there. I selected the entire contents of the current version of /Library/Application Support/AddressBook/ entered time machine and restored from yesterday morning's backup and everything worked fine. When signing into your new Mac, select “From a Mac, Time Machine backup, or startup disk” when asked how you’d like to transfer your information On the next screen, select your backup disk from the available options. If you use Time Machine to back up the files on your Mac, you can easily get back lost items or recover older versions of files. You can use Time Machine within many apps. On your Mac, open a window for the item you want to restore.
Backup programs, such as Time Machine, save the valuabledata residing on your computer, so you can always go back in time and retrievethe data you had at a certain point of time.
Common use cases when Time Machine backup could help:
All of the problems mentioned above, except #2, can besolved if you have at least one good backup from which you can restore. Inorder to solve problem #2 (restoring a specific version of the file), onebackup is not enough. This requires a history of backups that contain multiple fileversions.
Like any backup tool, Time Machine starts with making a copyof the entire disk, aka disk image, with everything on it. The Time Machinesaves everything: photos, documents, Trash, caches, cookies, that were presentat the time of back up.
Once the initial snapshot is taken, the program monitors changes that were saved on the disk, such as changes to the documents, new cookies, deleted photos, etc.
The next time the Time Machine runs, it knows which changes were saved on the disk and only saves the changes. And the next time it runs again, the app saves the changes that happened after the second run.
Since saving all possible changes takes a lot of space, TimeMachine has certain rules about how it keeps backups:
When the backup disk does not have enough space, the TimeMachine starts deleting the oldest snapshots in order to save the new ones.
Why does it matter, and why should you care about this?
If your backup disk does not have enough space, the abilityto go back in time and restore will be limited. It is possible that the oldestsnapshots were cleaned up, and you can’t restore a specific file or an app. So,to avoid problems like this, you may need a large backup drive.
Since Time Machine is a built-in Apple program and comes with any Mac, that’s the only software you need. Another required thing is a backup drive. Time Machine can back up to following destinations:
If you have an Apple desktop computer, such as iMac, MacPro, or Mac mini, the most obvious choice is an external hard drive (or groupof redundant drives).
With MacBooks, the best approach is NAS devices or anotherdesktop Mac, because they are available over the network. An external USB drivewill work too, but plugging it and out is a hassle.
As mentioned above, the first thing you need is a backup drive. In this article, we will use an external hard drive as an example because it’s the easiest and most affordable option. If you need recommendations on external hard drive selection, check out my other article here.
While you can find a disk preformatted for Mac, the truth isthat any drive is going to work as long as you know how to format it properly.Time Machine uses a specific format: Mac OS Extended (Journaled), also known asHFS+.
If you pick a drive formatted with different formats, Time Machine will offer to erase the disk and reformat it with HFS+. So be careful not to lose data if you have any on the disk.
To prepare the backup drive, use the Disk Utility app.
In the app, select the external hard drive designed for Time Machine backups. Click on the Erase button, and in the next window, select Mac OS Extended (Journaled) as the Format option. You can also set the name to something meaningful: “Joe’s iMac Backups”.
When you run Time Machine on an empty device, it will createthe initial backup. It will make a full disk image, and it may take a lot oftime.
Many users report that Time Machine gets stuck at the“Preparing backup” screen, sometimes for hours. Later I will sharetips on how to check if Time Machine is doing something or not. But I have tomention that it is expected that this phase takes a long time.
In a nutshell, the backup software collects informationabout every single file on the disk and makes a database. So, more files on thedisk, longer the preparing process takes.
There are ways to improve the speed, and I shared them in my other post.
The following are the steps to start backing with TimeMachine:
1. Start Time Machine app. The easiest way is to use Spotlight Search and type “Time Machine” in the Spotlight search bar. Or if you have System Preferences app icon in the dock, Time Machine can be found there.
2. Enable “Show Time Machine in menu bar” checkbox. This is the first thing I do. Now the Time Machine app can be accessed from the icon in the menu bar (at the top of the screen).
3. Plug in the external hard drive designated as a backup device. Time Machine may offer to use the drive and Erase if the drive is not formatted correctly.
4. If the Time Machine did not offer to use the disk, you could do it manually by clicking on the “Select Backup Disk…” button.
5. Select the disk from the list.
6. Once the disk is selected, the app will turn on the “Back Up Automatically” option and will try to run the initial backup within the next two minutes.
At this point, you need to decide on your backup strategy.
There are pros and cons to each approach.
By default, Apple wants you to have automatic backups. Just set it once and forget. Remember about Time Machine only when there is a need to restore something. This approach works very well for desktop Macs using external hard drives, which are permanently plugged in.
In the case of laptops, if the automatic backup is turned on external devices, the algorithm a little different.
With MacBooks chances that the USB drive is constantly plugged in a low. Nobody likes to carry a laptop with a huge drive hanging from the USB port.
So, when the auto option enabled, the Time Machine tries to take snapshots every time the backup drive is connected. Which means it is hard to ensure that the entire history of changes is preserved. After all, if the drive was not connected for a month, the Time Machine didn’t have a chance to save anything.
In this case, it makes sense to invest in a network drive: AirPort Time Capsule, NAS, or a network drive shared by another (desktop) Mac. The algorithm, in this case, is the same – Time Machine will take snapshots any time it can.
For instance, if you take MacBook to school or work in the morning, when you get home in the evening, the backup process will kick in automatically. The difference between external and network is that you don’t have to remember to plug in a device. As long as the home network is available, the backups will be taken.
With manual backups, you need to be even more disciplined. Iam using the manual solution, and here’s how I do it.
With every Mac at home (I own five), I take the initial backup. By the way, it is possible to backup multiple Macs on the same drive.
Every time I want to make a potentially destructive change:add/remove apps, install new macOS, etc., I take another backup. So, if thechanges don’t go well: Mac doesn’t start, apps crashing, I can restore from thelatest backup taken before the modification.
How about the documents? Unfortunately, this approach does not provide any protection to the documents. For this reason, I use DropBox to save all my files. When I restore the Mac image from a backup, the DropBox will sync down the latest files. The DropBox also provides simple version control, so I can go back and see the changes.
Switching between manual and automatic backups is easy. Justopen the Time Machine preferences page and enable or disable the “Back UpAutomatically” option.
To take a manual backup:
1. Click on the Time Machine icon in the menu bar. The “Show Time Machine in menu bar” checkbox must be enabled in the settings in order for the app icon to appear in the menu bar.
2. In the drop-down menu, click on “Back Up Now.” This will force a new snapshot to be taken. The Time Machine will scan the disk for any changes since the last backup.
If there were little changes, then the process will take several minutes. If the last snapshot was taken a long time ago, e.g., a month, then the backup may take hours.
Time Machine is a pretty simple app, and it has only a fewconfiguration settings.
In the Options window in Time Machine Preferences, there areoptions to:
In my opinion, the first two options should never be used.For instance, if system files were excluded, then you will not be able torestore the Mac in case if it crashes.
The last option is up to you. If you are doing automatic backups, then the Time Machine will run on schedule even when the Mac is not plugged into the power only if the “Back up while on battery power” is turned on.
And finally, the last option is encrypting backups. TimeMachine does not encrypt individual backups. Instead, it encrypts the entirebackup disk. So if you already have some backups, the encryption is stillavailable because it applies to the whole disk.
So in a way, encryption is not really a Time Machinefunction. You can even format the disk as encrypted.
Anyway, in order to encrypt your Time Machine backups,follow these steps:
Note:If you already have a backup disk selected, then you have to reselect it again with the checkbox turned on. Vuescan 9 5 16 – scanner software with advanced features.
Select your storage device as the backup disk. Selecting abackup destination. Postbox 6 1 12 equals. Connect an external hard drive to your Mac
While it is cool to be able to encrypt backups the question,should you really do it?
The only time when the encryption is recommended for TimeMachine backups is when it contains very sensitive data. In other cases,encryption is not recommended, especially if the backup drive is kept safe athome.
Encryption and decryption significantly impact theperformance of Time Machine, sometimes 3-5x. Another reason against encryptionis that backups are often needed in case of emergency. Now imagine if youforget the password, and your Mac is not booting.
And finally, if the hard drive that contains backups starts failing, it is much easier to restore unencrypted drive then encrypted one.
Very often, Time Machine backups take a long time to finish, especially the initial backups.
How long it takes depends on multiple factors. Among them the size of the primary disk on Mac, the number of files that have changed since the last snapshot, and the speed of the external hard drive.
If you need recommendations on the best external hard drive for Time Machine, check out my post here.
The most frustrating part of waiting for the completion of abackup is that the software does not give clear feedback on where it is in theprocess. Keep in mind that the time remaining displayed in Time Machine is justan estimate, and in many cases, it’s way off the real times.
The reason for such discrepancy is that the Time Machine appis designed to run on the background, so that does not disrupt the work usersdoing. And this means the app is trying to use as little as resources aspossible.
So, if you think that Time Machine just stopped respondingand is not doing anything, I found a script on Apple forums that can check thelogs and return relevant information.
First, start Terminal app.
Then copy and paste following code into Terminal (triple click to select the entire line):
This command retrieves the log entries for the last 24 hours. Look for the latest entry.
Yes, you can. In order to stop the current backup, click onthe Time Machine icon in the menu bar. In the drop-down menu, click on SkipThis Backup. This will stop the current backup process.
To resume the backup, click on the Time Machine icon in themenu bar again. In the drop-down menu, click on backup Now item. The backupwill resume from the point it was interrupted.
So, if you need to unplug the external drive from theMacBook while it is running a backup, click on Skip This Backup to stop theprocess. When it stops, right-click on the drive on the Desktop and clickEject. Now, it is safe to unplug the drive.
Next time, when the drive is plugged in, click on backup Now to resume the action.
Since backing up any computer takes a long time, I often runthem at night. So, it can finish by morning when I need my Mac.
In order to let Time Machine run while the computer issleeping, it must have Power Nap mode enabled. Power Nap is very useful, and itdoes more than just allowing backups. Other things enabled in this mode, suchas software updates installation, checking emails, iCloud synchronization, etc.
To turn on the Power Mode, open click on the Apple menu,then click on System Preferences -> Energy Saver.
To enable power when MacBook is running on battery, go to the Battery tab and enable “Enable Power Nap while on battery power.”
To do the same when Mac is connected to the power, click on the Power Adapter tab and enable “Enable Power Nap while plugged into power adapter.”
Now Time Machine can run even when Mac is sleeping. So, youcan even close your MacBook while it is backing up when Power Nap is enabled.
However, I do not suggest to enable Power mode for MacBookrunning on battery. The last thing you want it to lose energy at night in themiddle of software updates, which may take a lot of resources.
Usually, I only enable Power Nap under Power Adapter and leave my Mac connected to the power all night. And yes, it is ok to leave MacBook connected to power overnight.
I am doing a lot of experiments on my Macs in order to writegood posts on this site. Often those experiments are pretty destructive innature. For instance, I can intentionally infect my Mac with malware or installan app with Adware, that shouldn’t be installed.
After each experiment, I restore my computers to a pristinestate from one of the Time Machine backups. So, I can say I use restorefunctions more than the average user.
One thing I found out during these experiments, thatsometimes Time Machine backups failed.
Imagine what I feel when I brought my Mac to an unrepairablestate, started the restoring from a Time Machine backup, I took right before myexperiments, the backup software erased my primary disk, and after 30 mininformed me that the restoring failed.
In such a case, I ended up with a non-bootable computer.
Luckily, I have multiple external hard drives, and I domultiple backups. I just restored from a very old backup.
After several cases like this, I started looking for ways toverify backups. I wanted to be 100% sure that the last backup I did is a goodone.
But how to verify backups?
I spent several hours on the internet searching for theanswer. All articles I found offer the following solution.
However, nobody mentioned that this solution only applies tonetwork backup drives, such as NAS or AirPort Time Capsule.
When using this solution with external hard drives, theVerify Backups menu item is always disabled.
Alexa change mac address. I tested this multiple times, and I have to note: THIS DOES NOT WORK WITH EXTERNAL HARD DRIVES.
There is another solution: use the Terminal app and type thefollowing command:
This command is supposed to compute checksums and comparethem to the ones created by Time Machine. In other words, the command issupposed to do the same thing as the menu thing does.
As you probably guessed it:
THIS DOES NOT WORK WITH EXTERNAL HARD DRIVES EITHER.
And finally, some experts suggest running the First Aidfunction in Disk Utility.
Well, I tested that one too. The First Aid happily reportedthat the disk which contained the failed Time Machine backup was in good shape.
So, what’s the real solution to the problem?
How to verify Time Machine backups on external hard drives?
The answer is simple – restore the backup to another drive.
Here’s how to do it.
The restore process will begin. When I tried this first time, I almost had a heart attack, because on the screen it said “Preparing to restore Machintosh HD”.
I thought it is overriding the primary disk on Mac, which is called Machintosh HD. But this was not the case. Time Machine restored the image of Machintosh HD to an external drive.
After recovery completed, my MacBook restarted and bootedfrom the external hard drive, so I knew that the backup I was testing wasvalid.
By the way, this is how you create a bootable external hard drive for Mac.
Since I am doing manual backups, there was one thing that I always wanted to know: when and how many times I ran the backup.
The only way to know it is to restart the Mac in Recovery mode and start restoring the disk process. At some point, there will be a form with a list of all backups on the drive.
But, restarting Mac in order to know what’s on the drive isnot the best approach.
So, I came up with my own way to keep the history.
Drives used by Time Machine do not allow to create files in the backup folder or in the root, so first, create a new folder Backups. History in the root of the backup drive.
And now, in the new folder, it is possible to create a text file where you can keep any notes. I simply keep the date and time of each backup, and sometimes a reason for doing so.
That’s all you need to know about backing up Macs with TimeMachine.
Next, read how to restore files with Time Machine.
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