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.
Learn How to Back Up Mac Individual Folders. While trying to find out how to back up a Mac, avoid. Different Types of Backup Software for Macs When it comes to backing up your Mac, there are several different kinds of backups: Cloud Storage like Dropbox or Google Drive is a great first line of defence.
- 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
Backup Mac Pro
- 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.
Migration Assistant copies all of your files from your old Mac to your new Mac so that you don't have to copy them manually.
- If your files are currently on a PC, follow the PC migration steps instead.
- If you're moving content from a Time Machine backup, follow the steps to restore your Mac from a backup instead.
Get ready
- Install all available software updates on both computers. If your old Mac isn't using OS X Lion or later, and your new Mac isn't using OS X Mavericks or later, follow the Mountain Lion migration steps instead.
- If both computers are using macOS Sierra or later, place them near each other with Wi-Fi turned on. If either one is using OS X El Capitan or earlier, make sure that both are on the same network.
- On your old Mac, choose Apple menu > System Preferences, then click Sharing. Make sure that a name appears in the Computer Name field.
Use Migration Assistant
You're now ready to use Migration Assistant to move your files from the old Mac to the new one. Mac butler app.
On your new Mac
- Open Migration Assistant, which is in the Utilities folder of your Applications folder. Then click Continue.
- When 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.
On your old Mac
- Open Migration Assistant, then click Continue.
- When asked how you want to transfer your information, select the option to transfer to another Mac. Then click Continue.
On your new Mac
When asked to select a Mac, Time Machine backup, or other startup disk, select the other Mac. Then click Continue.
Mac Time Machine Backup Options
On your old Mac
Mac Backup Options
If you see a security code, make sure that it's the same code shown on your new Mac. Then click Continue.
On your new Mac
- Select the information to transfer.
In this example, John Appleseed is a macOS user account. If it has the same name as an account already on your new Mac, you're prompted to either rename the old account or replace the one on your new Mac. If you rename, the old account will appear as a separate user on your new Mac, with a separate home folder and login. If you replace, the old account will delete and then replace the account on your new Mac, including everything in its home folder. - Click Continue to start the transfer. Large transfers might need several hours to complete.
- After Migration Assistant is done, log in to the migrated account on your new Mac to see its files.
If you're not keeping your old Mac, learn what to do before you sell, give away, or trade in your old Mac.
