Time Machine allows user to create back up of entire your files to an external hard drive. By backing up your Mac data to any external data storage device you can reduce the chance of data loss. Time Machine is the built-in backup creating option of OS X. Before using this feature make sure that one of these external storage solutions is available or not:
To actually back up another Mac to your Time Machine server, open the Time Machine interface on another Mac on the same local network as your server. You’ll see it appear as a backup location in the list of disks, just as Time Capsule devices do. Repeat this process on each Mac you want to back up to the Time Machine server over the network. How to encrypt a Time Machine backup. Time Machine is Apple's built-in set-it-and-mostly-forget-it backup system for the Mac. Turn it on and it'll make a backup of your Mac and then keep it incrementally up to date over the hours, days, and weeks that follow. While it's not encrypted by default, you can enable encryption when you set it up.
- External hard drive wit USB, FireWire, or Thunderbolt port on your Mac
- External hard disk with USB port of an AirPort Extreme (802.11ac) base station on your network
- Time Capsule or OS X Server on your network
You may also like: How to Create Recovery Partition in OS X
After connecting an external hard drive directly to your Mac a message will appear that ask “You want to use the drive to back up with Time Machine.” click on the “Use as Backup Disk.” You can also choose the encrypt option, this will be accessible only to users with the password.
What to do when Time Machine doesn’t ask you to select a backup disk?
Step 1: Go to the Time Machine menu present in the menu bar and open Time Machine preferences. OR
Select Apple menu > System Preferences->click Time Machine.
Step 2: Click on the choose Backup Disk.
Step 3: Choose an external hard drive or Time Capsule or other storage solution from the list, then click Use Disk.
Step 4: You can add extra backup disk for more security and handiness, after selecting a backup disk, optionally click on the “Add or Remove Backup Disk” to add more backup disks.
Back up using Time Machine
After the successful completion of Time Machine setup, it will makes hourly backups for the past 24 hours automatically, every day backups for the past month, and weekly backups for all previous months.
Note: The oldest backups are deleted automatically when your backup drive is packed.
- If you want to create backup now then you have to select “Back Up Now” from the Time Machine menu.
- If you want to stop the automatic backups then turn off Time Machine in Time Machine preferences.
- If you want to pause a backup process then select “Stop Backup” present at the Time Machine menu. To resume, select Back Up Now.
- In case you want to exclude some items from your backup then open Time Machine preferences from present at the Time machine menu and click Options-> click Add and choose the item to exclude.
Steps to Restore from a Time Machine backup
How to Restore Specific Files:
Step 1: Click on the “Enter Time Machine” option that present at the Time Machine menu , or click on the Time Machine in the Dock.
Step 2: Search the files to restore:
- Use the timeline present on the edge of the screen to see the files present in your Time Machine backup. Snapshot is also present at the timeline.
- To see when the content of the window is change at last time you can use the onscreen up and down arrows. If you want to find any file then you can also use the search field present in a window.
- To see the preview of any file, choose a file and press Space Bar.
Step 3: After it click on the Restore button to restore the selected file.
How to restore Mac data/files without any backup?
This task can be achieved by the help of professionally designed Mac Data Recovery software. This application allows user to restore Mac data without need of any backup. A normal user can operate this tool without having any professional skill because it contains very easy to understand user interface. Its Advance algorithm makes data recovery possible without need of backup.
User Guide to Restore your Mac Data
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Use Time Machine, the built-in backup feature of your Mac, to automatically back up your personal data, including apps, music, photos, email, and documents. Having a backup allows you to recover files that were deleted, or that were lost because the hard disk (or SSD) in your Mac needed to be erased or replaced. Learn how to restore your Mac from a backup.
Create a Time Machine backup
To create backups with Time Machine, all you need is an external storage device. After you connect the storage 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.
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.
- External drive connected to your Mac, such as a USB or Thunderbolt drive
- Network-attached storage (NAS) device that supports Time Machine over SMB
- Mac shared as a Time Machine backup destination
- AirPort Time Capsule, or external drive connected to an AirPort Time capsule or AirPort Extreme Base Station (802.11ac)
Select your storage device as the backup disk
- 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. To make your backup accessible only to users who have the backup password, you can select “Encrypt backups”. Then 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, 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
How To Use Time Machine On Imac
- Learn about other ways to back up and restore files
- If you back up to multiple disks, you can 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.