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Watching your Mac suddenly die can be a heart-sinking moment, especially if you were in the middle of something important and don’t have time to troubleshoot the issue. Fortunately, you can easily restore all backed up data, applications, and settings with Apple’s Time Machine. Introduced in macOS 10.5, Time Machine is an easy-to-use backup and recovery software application, and you already have it installed on your Mac. Let’s take a look at two ways how you can restore from time machine.
How to Recover Data With Time MachineMethod #1: Recover Files from a Time Machine BackupThe first method to restore from time machine is useful when you lose valuable files but your operating system still works. Instead of restoring your entire Mac, it lets you selectively choose which files you want back, making it a true lifesaver when you find yourself in a high-pressure situation where full system recovery wouldn’t be possible. To recover files from a Time Machine backup:
Method #2: Restore Hard Drive from a Time Machine BackupThis method can save you if you can’t restore individual files because you’re experiencing major issues with your Mac that require the operating system to be reinstalled. By restoring hard drive from a Time Machine backup, you can go back to an earlier version of your Mac and recover everything from system files to applications to personal data. To restore hard drive from a Time Machine backup:
How to Recover Hard Drive Without Time MachineMethod #3: Recover Files from Hard Drive Using Disk Drill for MacTime Machine is a fantastic backup and recovery software application that has saved countless Mac users from permanent loss of data, but there’s one huge problem with it: it doesn’t work unless you manually activate it, and most people never do. The good news is that not all backup and recovery software applications work like Time Machine. Disk Drill for Mac is one such example, allowing you to recover deleted or lost files from your hard drive even if you don’t have a backup. However, there’s one caveat you need to keep in mind: Disk Drill for Mac may not be able to recover your files if you wait too long before you use it. Some application or the operating system itself may overwrite them and make them impossible to recover. That said, if you act decisively and don’t wait too long, you should be able to recover most—if not all—files without any problem. To recover hard drive without Time Machine:
Additional Mac Recovery OptionsMethod #4: Restore Your Mac from a Local BackupLocal data backups have their place even in the day and age of easy-to-use data recovery software applications like Disk Drill for Mac. Arguably the biggest advantage of local backups is their simplicity. You simply fire up your backup software, select your local backup, and wait for it to finish restoring your Mac. For the sake of this article, we’re going to assume that you have a backup created using Carbon Copy Cloner. To restore your Mac from a local backup:
Method #5: Restore Your Mac from a Cloud BackupStoring files on someone else’s hard drive has been a viable backup option for some time now. Apple offers its own cloud backup service, called iCloud, giving all users 5 GB of cloud storage space for free. If you’ve taken Apple up on its offer and have your files backed up in the cloud, restoring them couldn’t be simpler. To restore your Mac from a cloud backup:
Since Time Machine backups are stored on a dedicated backup drive, you can simply connect the drive to another Mac to restore files, apps, user accounts, and settings from your Time Machine backup. The entire process is fairly straightforward, and there’s not much that can go wrong if you follow our step-by-step instructions. To restore a Time Machine backup to another Mac:
Migration Assistant vs Time MachineIf you’ve recently purchased a new Mac, you’re probably wondering what’s the best way to move information from your old macOS Mojave-equipped Mac to your new machine, which most likely came with macOS Catalina. Mac users have been asking the same question for years, and the answer isn’t complicated at all since you have only two basic options:
What to Do if Time Machine Couldn’t Complete the Backup?Sometimes, the Time Machine backup process starts fine, only to fail suddenly and display the “Time Machine couldn’t complete the backup” error message. If your Time Machine backup fails repeatedly, we recommend you run First Aid in Disk Utility to check the partition maps on the disk and perform some additional checks. To repair a Time Machine backup drive with Disk Utility:
If Disk Utility reports that there’s nothing wrong with the Time Machine backup drive or that the problem has been fixed, you can consider your job to be finished. Why Does My Time Machine Backup Keep Failing?Your Time Machine backup could be failing for a number of different reasons:
Common Time Machine Backup Errors and How to Fix ThemLet’s take a look at three common Time Machine backup errors and explain how to fix them: No Time Machine backup found. This error occurs when Time Machine is unable to establish a connection with your backup drive or locate your backup files. Often, reconnecting it to your Mac is all you need to do to fix the problem. If that doesn’t help, make sure the backup drive is visible in Finder and that the backup files are actually located on it. If you can access it and the files are where they should be, use First Aid in Disk Utility to fix logical errors. The backup volume is read-only. This worrisome Time Machine backup error is usually easy to solve because there’s rarely anything wrong with your Time Machine backup drive permissions. In most cases, ejecting the external backup drive and then reconnecting it is enough to fix the error. If you suspect that there really is a problem with permissions, you can fix them the First Aid option in Disk Utility, as described earlier in this article. Time Machine couldn’t complete the backup to [backup drive name]. Also known as the Time Machine restore stuck error, this dreaded error message has the tendency to appear seemingly randomly, so fixing it may take some work. We recommend you review all running processes on your Mac and eliminate those that could potentially interfere with your Time Machine backups. For example, the WD Utilities app is known for preventing Time Machine from completing backups. You should also scan your Mac for malware using a reliable antivirus solution. How to Set Up and Start Using Time MachineIf you haven’t yet set up Time Machine, you should do it right now so that you can easily restore your hard drive in the future. To set up and start using Time Machine, you’ll need a suitable external backup drive (USB, FireWire, or Thunderbolt). Because storage space has become relatively cheap, we recommend you use a drive that’s at least two times the size of the drive you’re backing up. To set up Time Machine in macOS:
Did You Know?Apple’s Time Machine was first introduced on January 15, 2008, with the announcement of Mac OS X Leopard (version 10.5), the sixth major release of Mac OS X. Along with Time Machine, Mac OS X Leopard also introduced a redesigned Dock, Stacks, a semitransparent menu bar, and an updated Finder, giving Mac users an even more polished user experience. FAQIf you had to replace the hard drive inside your MacBook for a brand-new hard drive that doesn’t contain even the recovery partition, you can still use Time Machine to restore your MacBook:
You can backup your files with Time Machine on any internal or external hard drive, as long as the hard drive is properly formatted. To format a hard drive for Time Machine:
Time Machine backups can be quite large, and you may start to run out of available storage space on your external hard drive very soon. When that starts to happen, you can simply delete old Time Machine backups to free up some storage space:
If your Time Machine backup are not visible, there could be something wrong with your backup drive. Reconnect it to your Mac and give it a few seconds to be recognized. Some external drives require a source of power, so make sure that your drive is working as it should. If you’re still having problems, we recommend you repair your Time Machine backup drive by running First Aid on it. To access Time Machine files from another Mac:
Yes, if you’ve configured Time Machine to back up your external hard drive, you can now use it to restore it. The best way to restore a Time Machine backup after a clean install is with Migration Assistant:
Yes, Time Machine does restore a previous operating system but only if you restore from a Time machine backup without installing an operating system first. If you restore after installing an operating system, Time Machine will restore only personal files. In either case, it’s not possible to boot from a Time Machine backup alone. You can restore individual apps by copying their .app files from Time Machine backup files. However, this will not restore your settings and application data. How do I restore my Mac from an external hard drive to a backup?How do I restore my Mac from an external hard drive?. Hold down Command + R while your Mac is restarting to bring up the startup options screen.. Click on Disk Utility and then click Continue.. Select Restore from the top options and select your external hard drive as a source.. Click Restore.. Do external drives get backed up in Time Machine?Your external backup drive is now ready, and a Time Machine backup will start within 2 minutes. It's that easy. If Time Machine has been previously set up: open Time Machine and choose Select Disk then select the external drive. Note that your first backup may take several hours, depending on how many files you have.
How do I restore files from Apple Time Machine?Click Control Centre in the sidebar, scroll down to Time Machine , then select “Show in Menu Bar” from the pull-down menu. Use the arrows and timeline to browse the Time Machine backups. Select one or more items you want to restore (these can include folders or your entire disk), then click Restore.
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