Having a macOS backup up is never a bad idea. Your machine may get damaged, malfunction, or worse. No matter which problems may arise, backups can help you get your digital life back without starting from square one.
- Amadeus Pro mac lets you use your Mac computer for any audio-related task, such as live audio recording, digitizing tapes and records, converting between a var. December 19, 2018 December 19, 2018 Audio Editing Featured Music.
- The Mac app, Gemini 2, can scan your hard drive to help you quickly find and remove duplicate files. Once you plug an external hard drive into your Mac, you should be automatically prompted to use the drive with Time Machine. If you’re not, you can do it manually: Go to Apple System Preferences Time Machine. Click Select Disk.
Apple has a built-in feature for this named Time Machine, and suggests backing all files up in iCloud. It’s not a bad system, but Time Machine can be finicky about restoring to a new or refurbished machine, and iCloud is unreliable about syncing data. All told, trusting Apple’s chosen system may not be your best bet.
Best Mac Backup Apps
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But what options are there – and which should you use? We’ll show you how to backup Mac to iCloud, how to backup Mac to external hard drive, and show you the best apps to use when you want to backup your Mac and keep all of your data safe.
Why you should back up your Mac
Plainly put, backing your Mac up is the safest way to ensure you never lose data. A backup of any Mac is like capturing a moment in time; it creates an “image” or “snapshot” of your Mac at the time of the backup. It captures all of the data, files, folders, and other info on your Mac, and saves it in a compressed file you can use to boot to or reference later on.
Apple’s Time Machine is a nice, automatic way to create backups for your Mac. If you’re asking how to backup your Mac, this would be Apple’s preferred method. The issue with Time Machine is it’s really only reliable for capturing bootable backups of your entire Mac.
There are other methods for creating backups, and you can get a lot more detailed in the data you collect and save. Some backup services also allow you to compress data far more than Time Machine will, and you can create backups on your schedule, and save them to any external disk you like.
Best ways how to backup Mac
There are many methods for creating backups, but not all are created equal! Time Machine is the de facto method, but it may not be what you’re looking for. We’ll show you how to backup Mac with Time Machine, how to backup Mac on iCloud, and some third party solutions you may agree are far better.
How to backup Mac using Time Machine
![Mac Mac](/uploads/1/3/4/1/134132690/322288106.jpg)
To start backing your Mac up using Time Machine, you only need to set it up. From there, the Time Machine service automatically backs your Mac up. Here’s how to set Time Machine up if you’re not already using it:
- Plug in an external drive to your Mac
- From your Mac’s menu bar, select the Apple logo on the left side
- Select “System Preferences” from the drop down menu
- Select “Time Machine”
- Select “Back Up Automatically” on the left side of the Time Machine window
- Choose the external disk attached to your Mac to store your backups
You may be wondering if Time Machine is right for you. Here are the pros and cons of using Time Machine:
Pro: It works automatically. Once you set Time Machine up, it takes care of backing up your Mac. You don’t need to do anything.
Con: You don’t control the schedule. Time Machine backs your Mac up when it feels like it! There have been many times Time Machine backups interfere with other work.
Pro: It works perfectly with Apple’s AirPort Time Capsule routers. It’s a great example of Apple hardware and software working in lockstep.
Con: Apple discontinued the AirPort Time Capsule. You can still find them for sale, but Apple is no longer making them.
Pro: It backs your Mac up often. Time Machine backups are done often, and are meant to provide routine full-Mac backups you can boot to.
Con: Time Machine is essentially for emergencies only. It backs your whole Mac up, but the concept is to provide a place to boot a Mac to, not retrieve old files or access folders.
Con: You can’t control what’s backed up. If you only want to back up a particular folder, for instance, Time Machine can’t help you!
A better option to Time Machine may be Get Backup Pro. It provides a far better experience and allows you to backup the files and folders you care about most. Like Time Machine, Get Backup Pro is automatic, but excels because you can control the backup schedule. Rather than back up your entire Mac all the time, Get Backup Pro lets you backup the files or folders you want, whenever you want.
Of course, the app can also back up your entire Mac, too! It also compresses backups far better than Time Machine, boasting a 60 percent reduction in compression file size on average.
How to backup Mac to iCloud
Another lingering question on your mind may be “how to backup my Mac to iCloud.” It’s possible – sort of. Apple uses its cloud storage service to sync files and folders across devices, but it’s not a true backup. Syncing keeps data handy across devices, but if you delete those files, they’re gone forever.
Here’s how to make sure your Mac is syncing files to iCloud:
- Select the Apple logo in the top left of your menu bar
- Select “System Preferences”
- Select “Apple ID”
- Make sure “iCloud Drive” is selected
- Select “Options” to the right of iCloud Drive
- Make sure “Desktop & Documents Folders” are selected
Is iCloud right for you? Here are some things you should consider about iCloud as a “backup” solution.
It’s not a backup. A backup is a snapshot of your device. iCloud doesn’t store backups of a Mac, at least not yet.
iCloud is volatile. Though better than it used to be, iCloud is still a very unstable solution as cloud services are concerned. When iOS, iPadOS, and/or macOS update, iCloud often sees some wild disruptions and many users report missing data, especially with regard to photos.
You can’t retrieve data in iCloud. Once a file or folder is deleted, and it falls out of the ‘recently deleted’ queue, it’s gone forever. This is what we mean when we say iCloud is not a backup solution.
Convenience costs money. iCloud’s free tier is only 5GB, and it’s mostly used to house iPhone and iPad backups. If you want to sync photos or other data, you almost definitely have to pay $0.99 or more for more storage space in iCloud.
Backup your Mac to external hard drive
You can use Time Machine to “force” a backup, but it takes a new external drive. We suggest this method for creating secondary backups using Time Machine. Just know step eight will take a long time – maybe hours!
Here’s how it’s done:
- Plug in a new or different external drive to your Mac
- From your Mac’s menu bar, select the Apple logo on the left side
- Select “System Preferences” from the drop down menu
- Select “Time Machine”
- Click “Select Disk”
- Choose the new (or different!) external drive
- Select “Use Disk”
- Wait for Time Machine to complete the backup
- Eject your external drive from Finder (Note: always use proper methods for ejecting disks; failure to do so can corrupt data.)
- Unplug the external drive from your Mac
- In Time Machine, click “Select Disk” and choose the external drive you were using for backing your Mac up
There’s a better way, though! ChronoSync Express is great for backing up files and folders on your Mac to a remote drive or server. It allows you to choose which files and folders are synced, and pick the time most convenient for you to backup your Mac’s files. ChronoSync Express really shines when there are multiple Macs involved; rather than pay Apple for iCloud, ChronoSync syncs files and folders to multiple Macs – and can be used on iPhone or iPad.
How to back up to Dropbox, OneDrive, or Google Drive
Dropbox, OneDrive, and Google Drive are all excellent cloud storage solutions for your Mac. Like iCloud, they’re not true backup solutions; instead, they are best for syncing data across devices.
Each has its own app for syncing data across devices, including the Mac. Once you’ve downloaded OneDrive, Dropbox, or Google Drive’s solutions to your Mac, they embed themselves in your Finder. This allows you quick and easy access to cloud storage solutions, including when adding or removing files from your cloud locker.
Though each has its own solution, here’s a basic rundown on how to add an external cloud storage solution to your Mac:
- Download the cloud storage sync app
- Open the download form your Downloads folder
- Add it to “apps” by dragging the app icon onto the “apps” folder in the popup window
- Login to the cloud storage provider
That’s it! Front here, you’ll have your favourite cloud storage option right on your Mac, available in the Finder.
Is this the best idea, though? Here are some pros and cons to using external cloud storage systems on your Mac
Some can be gateways for malware or spyware. If you have a sketchy cloud service provider, its security practices may be lax, and allow Malware onto your Mac.
It can be difficult to remove the apps. Clear mac app store. If you decide later on you don’t really want that cloud solution on your Mac, it can be difficult to fully remove it from your Mac.
Data is not always synced in real-time. Sometimes, you add a file to your cloud from an iPhone or iPad, and it doesn’t show in your Mac’s folder. Cloud storage syncing gets hung up, so it’s not a real-time solution.
File types may not be supported. Cloud lockers can likely hold any type of file, but if you ever need to work with files from the service’s website, it’s possible you may not be able to if it’s not supported.
Сlone your Mac
One of the best apps for creating a clone of your hard drive is Disk Drill. Here’s how to use it to create a clone of your Mac:
- Connect an external drive to your Mac
- Open Disk Drill on your Mac
- Select “Backup” in the toolbar
- Choose “Backup into DMG Image”
- In the popup window, select “OK, Let’s Do It”
- Choose your Mac’s boot disk (typically “Macintosh HD”)
- Select “Backup”
- When asked where you want to save your backup, select the external drive attached to your Mac
- Select “Save”
Before you create a clone or backup, we suggest using CleanMyMac X. This app is the best tool for keeping your Mac running at peak performance. It can run routine scans, and is a great way to delete apps or files you no longer need. It removes clutter from your Mac and keeps it running smooth, which is an excellent option before creating backups and clones. Why take he system jenk with you?!
How to restore a Mac from backup
You can’t boot a Mac from a disk image, but you can restore your Mac from a backup or clone if you need to. Here’s how:
- Shut down your Mac
- Restart in recovery mode by holding down the Command and “R” keys as your Mac starts up
- Click on Disk Utilities in the Utilities application
- Select “Erase” (Note: If the disk image you’re restoring from has macOS High Sierra installed, choose APFS from the format menu, otherwise, choose macOS Extended (Journaled). Give it a name and click Erase.)
- Still in Disk Utility, click on the drive you just erased
- Go to the File menu and choose Restore
- Click the Image button and navigate to the disk image you created in Disk Drill
- Select “Restore”
Alternatively, if you know beforehand that you’re going to need to boot from the clone, choose Create Boot Drive and then Boot Drive for data recovery instead of Backup when you've created the disk image of your drive.
Rebooting from a backup or clone is another time Disk Drill shines. It can help recover files that may have been deleted, or at least appear to be lost. Disk Drill does a sensational job of finding those lost files you don’t see popping up on your Mac after a reboot!
Conclusion
Backing up and syncing data is important. It’s a step no Mac owner should skip.
The apps mentioned here today are all excellent solutions for ensuring the best backup experience on your Mac. They’re also free as part of a seven day trial of Setapp, the world’s best suite of productivity apps for your Mac. With nearly 200 incredible apps, Setapp has tons of apps you’ll want to use often, and is only $9.99 per month once the trial period is over. It’s an incredible deal, so why wait any longer? Give Setapp a try today!
Setapp lives on Mac and iOS. Please come back from another device.
Meantime, prepare for all the awesome things you can do with Setapp.
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Right click and select “Open” if you get an error by opening this application in macOS Catalina
Compatible with APFS & macOS Catalina and below. Backups to HFS+ volumes will be bootable, even on Catalina.
Mac Backup Guru creates bootable backups, and incremental snapshots for efficiently preserving history. For a light visual overview of this mac backup software have a look around the User Guide. To see how to use it in practice take a look at the product manual. Or if you prefer to jump straight in you can download a fully functional trial Or purchase it here.
Mac Backup Guru has 3 main functions for creating bootable backups, and for keeping your data in synch across backups: Direct Cloning, Synchronization, and Incremental Snapshots.
All of them can handle anything from small amounts of files & data to massive Xbox music app mac. amounts.
All of them can handle anything from small amounts of files & data to massive Xbox music app mac. amounts.
Direct Cloning: (useful for a fast bootable backup)
Make an exact duplicate of a folder or disk, fast.
Although we typically just use drag & drop for simple folder copies in the Finder, when we want to make a copy of something that is more complex, that simply won’t do. Did you ever try to copy your System folder for example? That won’t work. It will even struggle with large folders with lots of files in it, and the copies are not resumable if you have to restart them. That is fine, it is not designed for that.
If you want to make reliable and exact duplicates of anything you can throw at it, this is the way to do it. It will be happy backing up petabytes of data, or complex folder hierarchies with arcane filesystem metadata, permissions, and ACL’s set, and reproduce an exact, indistinguishable, duplicate.
Make an exact duplicate of a folder or disk, fast.
Although we typically just use drag & drop for simple folder copies in the Finder, when we want to make a copy of something that is more complex, that simply won’t do. Did you ever try to copy your System folder for example? That won’t work. It will even struggle with large folders with lots of files in it, and the copies are not resumable if you have to restart them. That is fine, it is not designed for that.
If you want to make reliable and exact duplicates of anything you can throw at it, this is the way to do it. It will be happy backing up petabytes of data, or complex folder hierarchies with arcane filesystem metadata, permissions, and ACL’s set, and reproduce an exact, indistinguishable, duplicate.
Synchronization: (keeps your bootable backup in sync)
If you already have a partial backup (for example, an out-of-date previously made clone, or even just a Finder copy between two folders) you can use Synchronization to create a clone faster than creating it from scratch. The beauty of this Synchronization in this case is that by using it the result is indistinguishable from an originally-made clone, it’s as good as a brand new clone, but it only copies the files are different between the source and destination. This is the backup method typically employed by most mac backup software. This is to allow you to have, for example, a bootable external disk which you also use for storage of other miscellaneous items. Since the root will never have any items deleted from it, anything else you are storing on that external will not be affected by any Syncs to that destination disk.
If you already have a partial backup (for example, an out-of-date previously made clone, or even just a Finder copy between two folders) you can use Synchronization to create a clone faster than creating it from scratch. The beauty of this Synchronization in this case is that by using it the result is indistinguishable from an originally-made clone, it’s as good as a brand new clone, but it only copies the files are different between the source and destination. This is the backup method typically employed by most mac backup software. This is to allow you to have, for example, a bootable external disk which you also use for storage of other miscellaneous items. Since the root will never have any items deleted from it, anything else you are storing on that external will not be affected by any Syncs to that destination disk.
Incremental Snapshots: (preserves all you file’s history while efficiently using space)
At first it seems impossible, but the Incremental Snapshot feature allows you to store what seems to be 15TB of information on a 2TB drive. This allows you to preserve versioned changes on your backup disk for months.
If you are working with your files and you make a mistake, you don’t want that mistake to be automatically reflected in your backups, but at the same time you do want to preserve the latest work you have done. So how can we preserve the good without also preserving the bad?
The answer to this is Snapshots. Although it would be laborious and space consuming to make a complete clone of your stuff every time a backup is made. Say you had a 500GB internal drive, and your backup disk had 700GB of space available on it, then in normal circumstances you would be able to fit about one and a half clones onto your backup disk. Not very useful.
By selecting Snapshots, this mac backup software will employ some wizardry whereby you can fit a full apparent clone of your disk which contains 500GB of data and 1 million files in as little as 3GB, instead of the usual 500GB that would usually be needed. This will appear and act as an exact clone in every way. Even if you Get Info on it using the Finder it will tell you that it’s taking up 500GB of space. But because underneath the surface it is using hardlinks (basically advanced aliases) to the last backup that it made, it’s actually only storing fresh copies of the files that have been changed since the previous time a backup was made, and the rest are hardlinks to the previous backup.
The upshot of this is that you can store around 150 copies of your startup drive with 500GB and 1 million files on it on your backup drive with 700GB free, instead of the 1.5 copies you could store with traditional backup software. The best way to use this is to set up a daily schedule to make a Snapshot of your source drive, and just leave it there. You will then have a daily timestamped backup of your data, and you can go back at any point and pull out preserved copies of any particular files that you want. You can delete older backups manually or automatically when you no longer need them, because when you do the hardlinks will automatically be redirected to the next copy of the data. Only the most recently completed Snapshot needs to remain present to be used as the basis for the next Snapshot that will get created.
The answer to this is Snapshots. Although it would be laborious and space consuming to make a complete clone of your stuff every time a backup is made. Say you had a 500GB internal drive, and your backup disk had 700GB of space available on it, then in normal circumstances you would be able to fit about one and a half clones onto your backup disk. Not very useful.
By selecting Snapshots, this mac backup software will employ some wizardry whereby you can fit a full apparent clone of your disk which contains 500GB of data and 1 million files in as little as 3GB, instead of the usual 500GB that would usually be needed. This will appear and act as an exact clone in every way. Even if you Get Info on it using the Finder it will tell you that it’s taking up 500GB of space. But because underneath the surface it is using hardlinks (basically advanced aliases) to the last backup that it made, it’s actually only storing fresh copies of the files that have been changed since the previous time a backup was made, and the rest are hardlinks to the previous backup.
The upshot of this is that you can store around 150 copies of your startup drive with 500GB and 1 million files on it on your backup drive with 700GB free, instead of the 1.5 copies you could store with traditional backup software. The best way to use this is to set up a daily schedule to make a Snapshot of your source drive, and just leave it there. You will then have a daily timestamped backup of your data, and you can go back at any point and pull out preserved copies of any particular files that you want. You can delete older backups manually or automatically when you no longer need them, because when you do the hardlinks will automatically be redirected to the next copy of the data. Only the most recently completed Snapshot needs to remain present to be used as the basis for the next Snapshot that will get created.
If you just set it and forget it everything gets handled automatically, and all you really need to know is that for all intents and purposes the Snapshots are just like direct copies, with the only practical difference being that it is a lot faster to make them, and they take up around 200 times less space.
What size is it really? 611.07 GB or 184 GB? du got it right. It’s one third of the size that the Finder is displaying.
Can I make a backup while I’m using my system?
Yes. It will happily run in the background and still make bootable backups of your disk.
Yes. It will happily run in the background and still make bootable backups of your disk.
Will Mac Backup Guru run my scheduled backups even if I have quit it?
Yes. It will automatically start up in the background.
Yes. It will automatically start up in the background.
What will happen if I’m backing up to an external drive, and it is not available for when the backup is scheduled?
The mac backup software will automatically run the next time you connect the drive, right away. It will also provide you with Notifications that there is a pending backup waiting when it opens.
The mac backup software will automatically run the next time you connect the drive, right away. It will also provide you with Notifications that there is a pending backup waiting when it opens.
How can I restore a backup?
Locate the backup that you want to restore. It can be any of the above (a Clone, a Synchronized Clone, or a Snapshot). Select it, and then create a back up from that, but this time selecting the backup as the Source. If you selected a copy of your bootable backup, then by restoring it (even by a Snapshot), you will re-create a bootable startup disk.
Locate the backup that you want to restore. It can be any of the above (a Clone, a Synchronized Clone, or a Snapshot). Select it, and then create a back up from that, but this time selecting the backup as the Source. If you selected a copy of your bootable backup, then by restoring it (even by a Snapshot), you will re-create a bootable startup disk.
An Incremental Mac App Installer
How is this different from Time Machine?
• You can use it to make bootable external drives / USB sticks / SD cards, etc.
• It’s configurable. You can choose folders to back up (not just whole disks).
• It does not require a dedicated disk, and you have control over how the disks you back up onto are used.
• You get fine grained control over how and when backups are made
• You get 3 functions instead of just one. Time Machine uses hardlink backups, and does not let you control how long the backups are kept, nor what is backed up.
• Reliability. You can browse through your backups using the Finder, and you can see that they are there and functional. Because they behave just like anything else on your disk (and you do not have to access them using a special application), you can see that they are there and working.
• Control. You can go back through your backups in the Finder and safely delete anything you no longer want stored.
• Speed. For large backups it’s not uncommon for Time Machine to need around 8 hours to complete the backup, whereas Mac Backup Guru will do the same job in 30 minutes or less.
• You can use it to make bootable external drives / USB sticks / SD cards, etc.
• It’s configurable. You can choose folders to back up (not just whole disks).
• It does not require a dedicated disk, and you have control over how the disks you back up onto are used.
• You get fine grained control over how and when backups are made
• You get 3 functions instead of just one. Time Machine uses hardlink backups, and does not let you control how long the backups are kept, nor what is backed up.
• Reliability. You can browse through your backups using the Finder, and you can see that they are there and functional. Because they behave just like anything else on your disk (and you do not have to access them using a special application), you can see that they are there and working.
• Control. You can go back through your backups in the Finder and safely delete anything you no longer want stored.
• Speed. For large backups it’s not uncommon for Time Machine to need around 8 hours to complete the backup, whereas Mac Backup Guru will do the same job in 30 minutes or less.
How can I make a bootable backup?
If a volume is copied directly to another volume, and care is taken to select the volumes themselves and not subfolders within them, it will automatically make the backup bootable. If, after creating the backup, it does not appear in System Preferences -> Startup Disk, it is worth attempting to reboot the computer and then immediately hold down the Option key. Then, before starting up, the computer will present you with a screen showing you the available volumes to boot from. With luck the newly created volume can then be selected and booted from.
If a volume is copied directly to another volume, and care is taken to select the volumes themselves and not subfolders within them, it will automatically make the backup bootable. If, after creating the backup, it does not appear in System Preferences -> Startup Disk, it is worth attempting to reboot the computer and then immediately hold down the Option key. Then, before starting up, the computer will present you with a screen showing you the available volumes to boot from. With luck the newly created volume can then be selected and booted from.
What if I still can’t boot from my volume?
Most of the time the above steps will work for most people. However in some cases the new volume won’t show up as bootable. This is because some types of external disks, USB sticks, enclosures, or in some cases even cables, do not support USB booting. If your volume fails to boot try switching the USB cable and trying again if you have another one. Then after that perhaps try switching the enclosure if possible. Failing all of the above, try purchasing a reputable drive enclosure and cable, which is the fail-safe option.
Most of the time the above steps will work for most people. However in some cases the new volume won’t show up as bootable. This is because some types of external disks, USB sticks, enclosures, or in some cases even cables, do not support USB booting. If your volume fails to boot try switching the USB cable and trying again if you have another one. Then after that perhaps try switching the enclosure if possible. Failing all of the above, try purchasing a reputable drive enclosure and cable, which is the fail-safe option.
Can I delete old Snapshots that were created without affecting the future Snapshots that get made?Only the most recently fully completed Snapshot needs to be preserved. It needs to be present, and not moved or renamed in order for it to be used as the base for the next Snapshot that will get created in the future. If you delete any of the older ones it will not affect anything so it’s fine to do. You can either do this manually, or you can change the number of “Recent Snapshots Kept” for the mac backup software to delete the older backups automatically. If you do this it’ll delete 2 at a time every time it runs until it has the number down to what you set.
Is there a user guide?
Yes, you can access it by clicking here. It can also be accessed from the Help menu from within the application. And if you prefer to get a more in depth feeling for it you can see the detailed product manual here.
Yes, you can access it by clicking here. It can also be accessed from the Help menu from within the application. And if you prefer to get a more in depth feeling for it you can see the detailed product manual here.
What disk format should I use?
HFS+ is the only format suitable for a backup disk in Mac. Anything else will risk losing metadata, and be less reliable.
HFS+ is the only format suitable for a backup disk in Mac. Anything else will risk losing metadata, and be less reliable.
Is there any way to turn off the Finder integration for the Copy/Paste functions?
Due to the fact that that is implemented as a Finder Extension, it is very easy to do. Just go to System Preferences -> Extensions and uncheck the extensions (including the Mac Backup Guru enhance Copy and Paste functionality) that you don’t want.
Due to the fact that that is implemented as a Finder Extension, it is very easy to do. Just go to System Preferences -> Extensions and uncheck the extensions (including the Mac Backup Guru enhance Copy and Paste functionality) that you don’t want.