Backing Up- Apple MacBook and iMac

Backing Up- Apple MacBook and iMac

Apple offer an easy to use, built in solution for backups, called Time Machine. Once set up, you can restore individual deleted files or restore all of your data if you ever wipe or replace the drive.

This feature requires a suitable external hard drive. The WD 2TB option is preformatted for Mac and includes both USB-A and USB-C cables https://bit.ly/2Qm9Qv5

Connect the external HDD

Connecting a new external HDD should automatically prompt a message asking you to use it for Time Machine. Select USE BACKUP DISK. If you choose to ENCRYPT the backups, you’ll need to provide a password to access Time Machine from that point. Select BACK-UP AUTOMATICALLY and SHOW TIME MACHINE ICON IN MENU BAR.

If the disk did not prompt you automatically to use Time Machine, simply click on the Apple Icon [top left of screen], select SYSTEM PREFERENCES and open TIME MACHINE to add it manually.

The first back-up will take a long time, as the entire drive needs to be copied. Subsequent backups are much faster, as only changes and edits to this base image are needed to build the backups.

Using Time Machine

Time Machine is an automated backup solution. It runs automatically when the disk is connected, and it self manages available space by storing

• Local snapshots of the drive
• Hourly backups from last day
• Daily backups from last month
• Monthly backups for as long as space permits

Desktop- based Mac users can simply leave the drive plugged in for a set-and-forget solution. Users of MacBooks will need to remember to regularly plug the drive into the Mac and allow time for the backups to occur in the background. Both the Mac and MacBook will prompt the user if a long time has passed without a backup as a reminder.

Accessing Time Machine Backups

Time Machine can restore individual deleted files or restore all of your data if you ever wipe or replace the drive. To enter Time Machine to restore a file, either click on the icon on the right-hand side of your menu bar or access it from SYSTEM PREFERENCES.

The backups are presented in chronological order. Locate the file you need in the window and select RESTORE.

[image credit- support.apple.com]