With so much that can go wrong with computers, you need a simple, reliable way to back up your Mac’s files and settings, don’t you agree? That’s exactly why Apple created Time Machine.
If the backup failed or does not exist, the files may still be on the original device. In that case, see Bot’s lab data recovery, which starts with a free diagnosis.
Introduced with Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, Time Machine creates backups of your Mac’s disk and stores them on an external drive or a network drive. It does not back up to the cloud.
In this article, you’ll learn what Time Machine is, what it’s for, how to set its preferences, and what you can restore (and how, step by step).
What is Time Machine?
Time Machine is an app that makes backup copies of your files so you can restore them later.
You can use it to back up and restore your entire system or just your most important files.
It also works with many apps, such as those in iWork and iLife, letting you restore files without leaving them.
You can even store your backups on a network drive, such as Apple’s AirPort Time Capsule.
What is Time Machine for?
Time Machine stands out from most backup apps because it captures exactly what was on your Mac at different points in the past, making it easy to recover files, emails or documents you may have deleted by mistake.
It backs up your data every hour and keeps hourly backups for the past 24 hours, daily backups for the past month and weekly backups for all previous months.
How do I back up with Time Machine?
To set up Time Machine backups on your Mac, follow these steps:
- Choose Apple menu > System Preferences and click Time Machine (in macOS Ventura and later: System Settings > General > Time Machine);
- Click “Select Backup Disk” (or “Add Backup Disk”);
- Select the disk you want to use for Time Machine backups. If it needs to be erased first, macOS will warn you: make sure it holds nothing you need;
- Check the “Back Up Automatically” box.
How long does Time Machine backup take?
The first backup can take several hours, depending on how many files you have. You can keep using your Mac while it runs.
After that, backups are much faster, because Time Machine only copies the files that have changed since the last backup.
How do I configure Time Machine’s backup preferences?
Once these settings are in place, Time Machine starts backing up. Remember that the first backup can take a long time.
After the first backup, Time Machine uses the backup disk for small hourly updates, as well as keeping daily backups for the past month and weekly backups for previous months.
When the backup disk is full, the oldest backups are deleted.
Exclude items and back up only what you want
Although Time Machine doesn’t offer many options, you can still choose what to back up and what to leave out.
To exclude an item from your backups, go to “System Preferences” and open Time Machine. Click the “Options” button, then click the add button (“+”) and choose the item you want to exclude.
If you change your mind and want the item backed up again, select it and click the remove button (“-“).
Check the status of your backups
To keep an eye on your backups and check that they’re in good shape, show the Time Machine icon in the menu bar at the top of the screen.
To do this, open Time Machine in “System Preferences” and select “Show Time Machine in menu bar”.
Then hold down the ⌥ Option key, click the Time Machine icon and choose “Verify Backups” (available for backups on network drives).
If the Time Machine icon shows an exclamation mark (!), there was a problem with the last backup.
If there’s no exclamation mark, everything went fine.
How to use Time Machine to restore files
Restoring files with Time Machine is easy as long as you keep your backups up to date.
First, open Time Machine to browse all your backed-up files, folders and apps.
To do this, open the Finder, go to “Applications” and click Time Machine. You can also open Spotlight (by pressing ⌘ Command and the Space bar at the same time), type Time Machine and click the app.
Along the right edge of the screen, you’ll see a timeline with the dates of your backups, which you can use to go back to any of them.
At the bottom of the screen are the buttons to cancel and to restore the selected file or app.
You can also restore files from Time Machine without opening the app: simply open the backup disk in the Finder and drag the items wherever you want.
However, this method requires some understanding of how the system is organized, and of the difference between copying and restoring.
In the app, you can browse Time Machine’s dated folders and explore everything that’s stored there.
Remember that, after the first backup, Time Machine only copies what has changed instead of copying everything on your Mac again. You can also restore any missing items, either automatically or manually.
You can also use cloud storage services to keep a copy of your documents, files and other important data.
What can be restored from Time Machine
With Time Machine, you can restore:
- Specific files: when you’ve deleted an important file by mistake and want to restore just that one;
- Your whole Mac as it was at the time of a specific backup: for example, after reinstalling macOS, when you want everything back the way it was;
- A Time Machine backup on a new Mac: when you want to transfer all the data from your Time Machine backup to your new Mac.
How to restore files with Time Machine
To restore files using Time Machine, you can follow the steps below:
- Choose Apple menu > System Preferences > Time Machine;
- Check “Show Time Machine in menu bar”;
- Click the Time Machine icon in the menu bar and choose “Browse Time Machine Backups”;
- Find your file or folder and click “Restore”.
Remember that you can choose which files and folders to exclude under Time Machine’s “Options”.
How long does a restore take?
There’s no single answer: it depends on how much data you’re restoring and on the speed of the connection to the backup drive.
So restoring data from a Time Machine backup can take about an hour in some cases and up to 10 hours in others.
How to set Time Machine preferences
To change these preferences, choose Apple menu > System Preferences and click Time Machine.
| Option | Description |
| Back Up Automatically | Sets Time Machine to back up your files automatically |
| Select Backup Disk / Add or Remove Backup Disk | If you haven’t set up Time Machine yet, click on “Select Backup Disk” to set up a backup disk. Repeat the steps for each disk you want to configure.
Once Time Machine is set up, your backup disks are listed here, with information about each one. To select, add or remove backup disks, click “Add or Remove Backup Disk”. |
| Option | Choose items to exclude from backups and whether to back up while your Mac is running on battery power. |
| Show Time Machine in menu bar | Adds a Time Machine menu to the menu bar at the top of the screen. |
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Conclusion
Time Machine is great for making and restoring backups. But while it works well for everyday tasks, it can’t help with more serious problems, such as a failed backup drive or data that was never backed up.
If this happens to you, the best option is a professional data recovery service, like the one we offer at Bot.
We diagnose your device within 48 hours, and our team of highly qualified professionals works in a Class 100 (ISO 5) cleanroom with full particle control, so your drive is handled safely.
We’re also on hand to answer your questions on social media.
Don’t take any chances: trust data recovery specialists with more than two decades of experience and more than 200,000 cases. Start your recovery with Bot now!
