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Just because your files are tucked snugly in your hard drive, it doesn’t mean their safety is guaranteed. Irreparable data loss could rear its ugly head at any time. Hopefully, you don’t lose any or all your important files or documents before you see the importance of backing up your data. Thankfully, Mac users have Apple Time Machine as a safety net for all their data to fall back on.
Time Machine on Mac is a unique backup app in a sense that the software captures an hourly snapshot of the data on your device and saves it on an external drive. It will continue taking snapshots of your data until the drive is filled up. At this time, the app deletes the oldest files on the drive and replaces them with the latest snapshots. The Server software had a Time Machine server feature, which allowed you to designate a folder that other Macs could select to store Time Machine backups. This is especially useful if you have laptops that you don’t often connect to hard drives to back up; Time Machine can do this automatically, in the background, even at night.
Read on to find out how you can benefit by using Apple Time Machine. We’ll provide run-throughs on setting it up and retrieving backup files.
Why Use Apple Time Machine Over Others?
It’s not every day you come across a Mac backup app that runs silently in the background without draining system resources. This is the primary advantage that Apple Time Machine has over other backup solutions.
It does this by making a full backup of your Mac’s system disk initially and then stacking subsequent changes in chronological order. The changes are often saved automatically in hourly, daily, and weekly increments, with the oldest backups being overwritten with the newest versions. The cycle continues until the external backup disk is filled to the brim.
Apple Time Machine’s backups can also be readily used in Recovery Mode. This means you can easily restore your Mac to its original, functioning state if your drive ever crashes and fails. In addition, the backups can be utilized by Apple’s Migration Assistant during the installation of a new OS so you can swiftly transfer files, applications, and even settings from your old Mac version to the newest one with absolute ease.
Best of all, using Apple Time Machine is surprisingly easy. Setting it up is a cakewalk and recovering files is even more so.
How do I Start Using Apple Time Machine?
To begin with, you need to have an external drive that supports the Apple File Protocol (AFP) file sharing. That, or any hard drive that connects via USB, FireWire, or Thunderbolt, and as uses a Mac filesystem format.
Ideally, though, it’s best to get Apple’s own AirPort Time Capsule—a Wi-Fi base station with a built-in backup disk. Since it’s a wireless device, you won’t have to keep an external HDD physically connected to your Mac at all times.
![]() How Do I Set Up Apple Time Machine?
Simply connect an external hard drive or the Time Capsule to your Mac. From there, a prompt asking you if you’d want to use a Time Machine backup disk should appear. Check the ‘Encrypt Backup Disk’ option when you want to secure your backups with a password. Otherwise, just click on “Use as Backup Disk”.
And just like that, you’re set to go! The volume you chose will subsequently be formatted and the initial backup will begin a few minutes after. From there on, everything will be taken care of by Apple Time Machine.
Nevertheless, keep in mind that the initial backup process takes a long time. Thus, we recommend you set up Time Machine before you catch some zzz’s and leave your Mac running all night or until the backup is completed the next day.
How Do I Recover Files from a Time Machine Backup?
When you wish to restore individual files and folders to your desktop, follow these procedures:
Mac app cant download. If you wish to recover your entire startup disk in case of a massive data loss, follow these steps:
With its automated scheduling, straightforward recovery process, and amazing ability to backup your data without hindering your system’s performance, it should come as no surprise that more Mac users are starting to appreciate and utilize Apple Time Machine. Its capacity to save your data from certain doom makes it an indispensable application for every Mac computer.
Backing up your Mac is crucial in protecting your files and data. Whatever digital disaster happens, you have something to fall back on instead of starting from scratch. So, even if you’ve accidentally deleted your hard drive or your Mac suddenly went kaput, you don’t have to worry about losing your important data.
Mac has a built-in backup tool, called Time Machine, that works by creating copies of your files in the background. However, some Mac users find Time Machine a hassle because you have to keep the external hard drive you’re using for backup always connected and turned on. Plus, you’ll need a hard drive with an HFS+ filesystem for the backup.
Others, on the other hand, don’t like the fact that the Time Machine backup is not bootable. If your boot volume gets in trouble, you’ll need to reinstall macOS and restore the Time Machine backup.
Mac users have also encountered various Time Machine issues, such as backups not being completed, backup files disappearing all of a sudden, and backup process not being initiated on schedule.
Because of these issues, Mac users have been looking for Time Machine alternatives for backing up files. There are many backup options in the market today, but finding the best alternative for Time Machine on Mac requires careful research and a bit of trial and error. We understand that different users have different backup needs and what might be useful for you might not be worth the same to the next person.
Types of Backup Software for Mac
Before you look at the list of Time Machine alternatives for Mac, you must first understand the different kinds of backup and what they do.
So, if you’re looking for alternatives for Time Machine, check out the list we’ve compiled below of backup software you can use on Mac. This will save you the trouble of looking up and trying out each of these backup options. Some of these alternatives are free, while some require a small subscription fee.
Time Machine Alternatives for Backup1. Dropbox
Dropbox may not be like your traditional backup software, but it is a great place to save your important files, nonetheless. You can also continue working on your files after you have uploaded them to Drorpbox.
All you need to do is sign up for a Dropbox account and you get to enjoy 2GB of free storage. This is more than enough to save your important files and data. But if you need more storage, you can upgrade to the paid version, which costs $9.99 per month, to get 1TB of space.
The only downside to using Dropbox is that you need to upload your files and documents manually. Alternatively, you can drag the files to the Dropbox folder for automatic syncing.
2. Google One
Formerly known as Google Drive, Google One works exactly the same way Dropbox does. It may not be as powerful as your traditional backup programs for Mac, but it offers a safe way of storing your files online and making them accessible wherever and whenever you need them.
The only difference with Dropbox is the pricing. You get 15GB storage for the free account, 100GB for $1.99 per month, 200GB for $2.99 per month, 2TB for $9.99 per month, and so on. Compared to Dropbox, Google One offers more storage and more pricing options.
3. Backblaze
Backblaze is a cloud backup solution that keeps all your important files totally safe. All of the important data on your computer will get uploaded to Backblaze’s servers. If you need a copy of your files, you can just download them directly from the website.
Uploading large files to the Backblaze server might slow down your network, but you can set an upload limit or schedule your backups when you’re asleep, so that it doesn’t affect your computer use.
Instead of downloading an entire computer worth of data, you can order a 128GB USB drive or a 4TB external drive with all of your data on it. Backblaze costs $5 per month for each computer that you want to back up.
4. Carbonite
This backup works the same way as Backblaze. It costs $6 per month for each computer, billed annually. You can back up an unlimited amount of data to their servers and restore them through their website. However, if you need to upload videos, you need to subscribe to the $111.99/year Plus plan. And if you want your data delivered to you, you’ll have to be subscribed to the $149.99/year Prime plan.
5. SuperDuper!
This backup tool is one of the most popular cloning apps for Mac. You can use it like a regular backup tool to copy files and folders to another drive. What makes SuperDuper! really cool is its capability to create bootable clones of your computer. So, even if your hard drive fails, you can easily get your computer up and running again with this backup.
SuperDuper! Has a free version that provides features that most users need. But its paid version offers other useful features, such as a scheduler and a Smart Update feature that updates your existing backups.
![]() 6. Carbon Copy Cloner
Carbon Copy Cloner is also a flexible backup utility that allows users to create regular and bootable backups. But with Carbon Copy Cloner, you get to choose which files are backed up. This is an important feature for those who don’t want to back up every single file on their computer.
Carbon Copy Cloner also lets users create a bootable clone, plus a regular backup of select files and folders. The user interface is also better and easier to navigate compared to other backup tools. Bear app mac workflow.
Carbon Copy Cloner costs $39.99, but you get to enjoy a free 30-day trial to check out its features first.
7. Acronis True Image
Acronis True Image is an all-in-one backup solution for Mac. You can choose to back up your files to a local hard drive or save them in network attached storage drives. You can also use the software’s own cloud backup service.
The app costs $49.99 and it has pretty much all that you need, except for a cloud backup service. If you want to save your files to the cloud, you need to subscribe to either the Advanced plan for $49.99 a year or the Premium plan for $99.99 a year. These plans also come with other useful features, such as phone support and social media backup.
What Does The Time Machine App Do On Macbook ProSummary
Time Machine is a good backup tool for Mac, but it’s not for everybody. If you’re looking for more powerful features or other backup methods aside from what the built-in backup tool provides, check out our list above of great alternatives for Time Machine and choose one that fits your needs and your budget.
Here’s a tip: To speed up the backup creation process, make sure to regularly delete junk files from your computer using Tweakbit MacRepair. Your upload rate will be faster and you can save your storage space for your important data.
Time Machine Editor
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