Time Machine creates a backup of your Mac on an external drive. You can use USB, Thunderbolt, or FireWire to connect a drive to your Mac, although you may need to use an adapter if your Mac doesn't have the right ports. Apple used to offer a product called Time Capsule, which let you back up your Mac with Time Machine over Wi-Fi. The first backup may take a long time, depending on how many files you have, 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. How do I create a backup for Quickbooks from Mac to PC from a Apple Mac Mini that we share files for three IMac - Answered by a verified Tech Support Rep We use cookies to give you the best possible experience on our website. Mar 03, 2019 This wikiHow teaches you how to save a backup of your entire Photos library on a Mac. You can automatically upload all your pictures to iCloud if you want an online backup, or copy your Photos Library file to an external drive if you want to save a manual backup.
Backing up your Mac is simple and important. We recommend it for everyone. Wd 2tb external hard drive for mac.
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. Wheres the mic on a mac.
Get your Mac ready for serviceHow 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.
Related topics
Free up storage on your Mac
macOS can save space by storing your content in the cloud. This isn't a backup, but it includes new tools to make it easier to find and remove large or unwanted files before you make a backup.
Use Optimized Storage in macOSErase or format a storage device
Make A Backup Of Mac Hard Drive
You can use Disk Utility if you need to erase or format a storage device.
Learn how to use Disk UtilitymacOS Community
If you can't back up your Mac
We'll find the best support options for you.
Make A Backup Of Mac Mojave
Maybe. But you probably went about it wrong.
An option would have been to first partition the external drive using Apple's Disk Utility with two partitions: one for the Mac and one for Windows/PC. Then you could the same drive for both platforms.
However, that might not be best option. It would be best to dedicate an external drive exclusively to Time Machine. This would mean you would have to backup incrementally unless you have available ports that you can dedicate to each drive (depending on the external drive being either firewire or USB.) If you can dedicate a drive to a port, the Time Machine drive will back up per its settings automatically. Not sure what you're using to backup the Windows side.
Since you mention you have a MacBook Air, its uncertain how you're connecting as the Air has no USB or Firewire ports..
An option would have been to first partition the external drive using Apple's Disk Utility with two partitions: one for the Mac and one for Windows/PC. Then you could the same drive for both platforms.
However, that might not be best option. It would be best to dedicate an external drive exclusively to Time Machine. This would mean you would have to backup incrementally unless you have available ports that you can dedicate to each drive (depending on the external drive being either firewire or USB.) If you can dedicate a drive to a port, the Time Machine drive will back up per its settings automatically. Not sure what you're using to backup the Windows side.
Since you mention you have a MacBook Air, its uncertain how you're connecting as the Air has no USB or Firewire ports..
Best Way To Backup Mac
Sep 16, 2010 2:03 PM