How to back up your Mac with Time Machine. We have a step-by-step guide to backing up with Time Machine here, but essentially you just need to do the following. Plug in hard drive or SSD.
Find backups stored on your Mac or PC
- You can either take a backup of Mac on iCloud or any other external hard disk. Since one can access the information from the cloud almost anywhere, it is ideally recommended to backup Mac to iCloud promptly. Part 2: How to Backup Mac System and Files.
- How to Back Up Your Computer with Time Machine. Mac macOS (10.5 and above) has an excellent built-in backup tool called Time Machine. Once you plug in a hard drive and set up Time Machine, it will work automatically in the background, continuously saving copies of all your files, applications, and system files (i.e., most everything except for the stuff you likely don’t need to back up, such.
To avoid ruining any of your backup files, here's what you should know:
- The Finder and iTunes save backups to a Backup folder. The location of the Backup folder varies by operating system. Though you can copy the Backup folder, you should never move it to a different folder, external drive, or network drive.
- Don't edit, relocate, rename, or extract content from your backup files, because these actions might ruin the files. For example, to restore from a relocated backup file, you need to move it back or the file won't work. Backups serve as a safe copy of your entire device. So while you might be able to view or access a backup file's contents, the contents usually aren't stored in a format that you can read.
Backups on your Mac
To find a list of your backups:
- Click the magnifier icon in the menu bar.
- Type or copy and paste this: ~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/
- Press Return.
To find a specific backup:
- On a Mac with macOS Catalina 10.15 or later, open the Finder. On a Mac with macOS Mojave 10.14 or earlier, or on a PC, open iTunes. Click your device.
- In the Finder, under the General tab, click Manage Backups to see a list of your backups. From here, you can right-click on the backup that you want, then choose Show in Finder, or you can select Delete or Archive. In iTunes, choose Preferences, then click Devices. From here, you can right-click on the backup that you want, then choose Show in Finder, or you can select Delete or Archive.
- Click OK when you're finished.
Backups in Windows 7, 8, or 10
To find a list of your backups, go to Users(username)AppDataRoamingApple ComputerMobileSyncBackup
You can also use these steps:
- Find the Search bar:
- In Windows 7, click Start.
- In Windows 8, click the magnifying glass in the upper-right corner.
- In Windows 10, click the Search bar next to the Start button.
- In the Search bar, enter %appdata% or %USERPROFILE% (if you downloaded iTunes from the Microsoft Store).
- Press Return.
- Double-click these folders: 'Apple' or 'Apple Computer' > MobileSync > Backup.
Delete or copy backups on your Mac or PC
Don't edit, relocate, rename, or extract content from your backup files, because these actions might ruin the files. Use the following sections to make copies of your backups or delete backups that you no longer need.
Copy backups to another location
If you need copies of your backups, you can find the Backup folder and copy the entire folder (not just part of it) to another place, like an external drive or network-storage location.
When you use Time Machine, it automatically copies your Backup folder when you back up the Home folder on your Mac.
Delete backups
- On a Mac with macOS Catalina 10.15 or later, open the Finder. On a Mac with macOS Mojave 10.14 or earlier, or on a PC, open iTunes. Click your device.
- In the Finder, under the General tab, click Manage Backups to see a list of your backups. From here, you can right-click on the backup that you want, then select Delete or Archive. In iTunes, choose Preferences, then click Devices. From here, you can right-click on the backup that you want, then choose Delete or Archive. Click OK when you're finished.
- Click Delete Backup, then confirm.
Locate and manage backups stored in iCloud
If you use iCloud Backup, you won't find a list of your backups on iCloud.com. Here's how to find your iCloud backups on your iOS or iPadOS device, Mac, or PC.
On your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch:
- Using iOS 11 or later and iPadOS, go to Settings > [your name] > iCloud > Manage Storage > Backups.
- Using iOS 10.3, go to Settings > [your name] > iCloud. Tap the graph that shows your iCloud usage, then tap Manage Storage.
Tap a backup to see more details about it, choose which information to back up, or delete the backup.
You can choose which content to back up only from the Settings menu of the device that stores that content. For example, while you can view your iPad backup from your iPhone, you can choose which iPad content to back up only from the Settings menu of your iPad.
On a Mac with macOS Catalina 10.15 or later:
- Choose Apple () menu > System Preferences.
- Click Apple ID.
- Click iCloud.
- Click Manage.
- Select Backups.
On a Mac with macOS Mojave 10.14 or earlier:
- Choose Apple () menu > System Preferences.
- Click iCloud.
- Click Manage.
- Select Backups.
On your PC:
- Open iCloud for Windows
- Click Storage.
- Select Backup.
Learn more about how to delete or manage iCloud backups from your Mac or PC.
Learn more
- Learn the difference between iCloud and iTunes backups.
- Follow steps to back up your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch.
- Learn about encrypted backups in iTunes.
Backing up your Mac is simple and important. We recommend it for everyone.
Back up with Time Machine
Time Machine is the built-in backup feature of your Mac. It’s a complete backup solution, but you can use other backup methods as well.
Create a backupStore files in iCloud
You can also use iCloud and iCloud Drive to store files, such as your photos, documents, and music.
Set up iCloud and iCloud DriveRestore your Mac from a backup
When you have a backup, you can use it to restore your files at any time, including after the original files are deleted from your Mac.
Restore from a backupPrepare your Mac for service
Making a backup is an important part of preparing your Mac for service, especially because some types of repair might require erasing or replacing your hard drive.
Macs are known to be complicated and full of maze-like programs. Sometimes, this is true. But the easiest thing in Mac is to delete or uninstall any program. Removing a program in Windows is a heck of a thing. The program gets uninstall, but its setup remains in the system and takes huge space. But this is not the case in Mac. But in the Mac OS X computer, the uninstall process is simpler. You just need to select the Application that you want to remove (from the Desktop or Finder Applications). Next, right-click on the application icon Move to Trash. Or you can also delete it by dragging the program icon and drop it to the Trash. The Best Free Uninstallers app downloads for Mac: App Cleaner And Uninstaller App Uninstaller AppTrap App Fixer App Uninstall AppDelete Elimisoft App.
Get your Mac ready for service USP: All-Rounder Mac Cleaner; Uninstaller, One-Click Cleaning, Duplicate Finder.
How much space do I need for a backup?
To see the size of a specific file or folder, click it once and then press Command-I. To see storage information about your Mac, click the Apple menu in the top-left of your screen. Choose About This Mac and click the Storage tab. For Time Machine backups, it's good to use a drive that has at least twice the storage capacity of your Mac.
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