{"id":1757689,"date":"2022-09-16T12:15:00","date_gmt":"2022-09-16T12:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sweetwater.com\/sweetcare\/?post_type=articles&p=1757689"},"modified":"2022-09-21T13:44:24","modified_gmt":"2022-09-21T13:44:24","slug":"macos-10-15-catalina-time-machine-backup-guide","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/www.sweetwater.com\/sweetcare\/articles\/macos-10-15-catalina-time-machine-backup-guide\/","title":{"rendered":"macOS 10.15 Catalina Time Machine Backup Guide"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In this guide, we will show you how to create a Time Machine backup for Macs on macOS 10.15 Catalina. Time Machine backups save your files and are necessary when you want to restore your Mac or access a file you might have deleted. Follow each of the sections below to get started. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. How to back up your Mac<\/a><\/strong><\/li>
  2. Format external hard drive for macOS<\/strong><\/a><\/li>
  3. Create Time Machine backup<\/a><\/strong><\/li>
  4. Recover macOS from a Time Machine backup<\/a><\/strong><\/li>
  5. Related content<\/strong><\/a><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    How to back up your Mac<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Backing up your Mac essentially means to copy your files to another hard drive, thus creating a \u201cbackup\u201d. The classic way of backing up files is to copy them to an external hard drive or cloud storage service. You can either back up each file individually or place them all in a single containing folder (and possibly zip it<\/a>)<\/em>. This method is useful for backing up specific files or creating archives but isn\u2019t as complete as actually backing up your Mac. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Apple\u2019s cloud storage solution is iCloud, a built-in macOS service that lets you back up photos, documents, and contacts from your Mac and other Apple devices. Portable USB flash drives or other cloud storage services (Google Drive<\/a>, Dropbox<\/a>, etc.)<\/em> also have convenient backup service. Learn more on Apple\u2019s iCloud page<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Back up your Mac with Time Machine<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The best way to back up your Mac is by saving your files to an external hard drive as a Time Machine backup. Creating a Time Machine backup will copy every file on the Mac\u2019s hard drive to the dedicated backup drive. Once initially backed up, Time Machine will perform routine backups by saving any changes made since the last backup. After a file is saved it doesn\u2019t get saved again until it\u2019s modified, making subsequent backups quicker than the first. Time Machine backups can be automatic or performed manually, allowing you several options for restoring your Mac<\/a>. Follow the steps below or learn more from Apple about how to back up your Mac with Time Machine<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
    \n
    \"Catalina<\/a>
    Time Machine settings.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    \"Mojave<\/a>
    Use a formatted drive as a Backup Disk.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

    What kind of hard drive do I need?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    A dedicated external hard drive is best for Time Machine backups. The drive should have at least as much storage space as your Mac\u2019s hard drive, although double or more is recommended if you plan on working with a lot of different large files or saving a ton of backups. Spinning disk drives may not be as quick as solid-state drives, but they do offer more storage space for the value. Learn more from Apple about which backup disks you can use with Time Machine<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n