Create a backup disc for mac os x how to#
Create a backup disc for mac os x password#
Create a backup disc for mac os x mac#

If you go to System Preferences > Internet Accounts > iCloud you can see a list of everything that's currently being synced and stored in your iCloud account. Where Time Machine is a complete and total system backup, iCloud only stores some of your data. ICloud backs up some stuff, but not everything You'll see your previous Time Machine backups like cards in a rolodex scroll through and find the one you want and click the Restore button. To restore your system or even a single file to a previous point in time, click the menu bar and choose Enter Time Machine. From the menu bar icon, you can keep an eye on the status of your backup, stop a backup and manually start a backup. There is also an option to Show Time Machine in menu bar.

Create a backup disc for mac os x mac#

Excluding items will speed up a Time Machine backup, but you can still use your Mac while it's getting backed up Time Machines goes about its business in the background, though older Macs might feel a bit sluggish during the backup process. Make sure the check box next to Back Up Automatically is checked.Ĭlick the Options button in Time Machine's panel in System Preferences and you can add items for Time Machine to exclude.

Create a backup disc for mac os x password#

When selecting your drive for Time Machine, you can also check a box to Encrypt backups, which will require a password when you go to restore your Mac from a Time Machine backup. Doing so will erase anything on the drive, so make sure there's nothing on the drive you don't want to lose. If it's not properly formatted to work as a backup drive, Time Machine will ask if you want to format the drive. If your Mac forgets its manners and doesn't ask, you can select the drive for Time Machine to use by going to System Preferences > Time Machine and clicking the Select Disk button. Once you have a drive, plug it into your Mac and wait for the prompt to use it with Time Machine. The drive can either be connected directly to your Mac or to your network via an Apple Time Capsule, an external drive connected to an AirPort Extreme Base Station or another router with an available USB port. For example, if your Mac has 256GB of storage, you'll want a 512GB drive. As far as how big of a drive to get, the unwritten rule is 1.5 to 2 times the size of your Mac's hard drive. You can find an external hard drive or SSD for relatively cheap, and we even have a handy guide to the best drives. Once the backup drive is full, it will make room by deleting the oldest backups.

When Time Machine is set up, it will create and store one backup every hour for the past 24 hours, daily backups for the past month and one backup a week for all previous months until it runs out of space. In fact, when you connect an external hard drive or SSD to your Mac, you may see a prompt asking if you want to use the drive with Time Machine.

Create a backup disc for mac os x how to#

You don't have to do a thing after the initial setup process that takes just a few minutes.īelow I'll walk you through using Time Machine, cover how to check what iCloud is keeping a backup of and for those who want some extra assurance, I'll show you how to back up your Music library.Įvery Mac includes the Time Machine app that will routinely perform backups of your computer as long as it knows where to store that backup. The best part? Apple includes an app in every Mac that will routinely create a total backup of your Mac.