How to Back Up a Mac

Don't get caught without a backup—protect your files using Time Machine or iCloud

Co-authored by Chiara Corsaro and Nicole Levine, MFA

Last Updated: January 15, 2022 Tested

Your Mac comes with a great backup solution called Time Machine that makes it easy to create automatic and manual backups of your files, apps, and settings. This wikiHow tutorial will show you how to back up everything on your Mac to an external hard drive with Time Machine, plus how to back up personal documents and folders to iCloud.

Method 1

Method 1 of 2:

Backing Up to an External Drive

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1
Connect your Mac to an external hard drive. You can back up to external USB, Thunderbolt, or FireWire drive that's connected to your Mac.
- If the drive is not formatted to be compatible with macOS, you'll be prompted to erase and reformat it before you can back up with Time Machine.^{[1]
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- Time Machine backs up everything that's stored on your Mac, including personal files, preferences, installed apps, and photos. You can easily restore files from Time Machine if you accidentally delete them, or if you experience a system-wide crash.
2
Click the Time Machine icon in the menu bar. It's the curved arrow containing a clock in the upper-right area of your Mac's screen. This opens the Time Machine menu.
- If you don't see this icon, click the Apple menu and go to System Preferences > Time Machine. Then, you can check the box next to "Show Time Machine in menu bar" at the bottom so the icon is readily available in the future.
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This opens your Time Machine preferences.
It's in the right pane of the dialog box.
This tells your Time Machine to back up to that drive.
It's in the lower-right corner of the dialog box.
7
Check the box next to "Back Up Automatically." It's in the left panel. When this box is checked, Time Machine will automatically back up data every hour. To save time, Time Machine only backs up files that were changed after the last backup.
- Time Machine will keep hourly backups for the past 24 hours, daily backups for a month, and weekly backups for all previous months.
- Older backups are removed automatically when the backup disk is full.
It's in the lower-right corner of the window.
9
Choose which items to back up. By default, all files on your Mac are backed up in Time Machine. If you want to exclude certain files and folders from the backup, click the +, select one or more items, and then click Exclude.^{[2]
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- To remove an item from the Excluded list, click that item, and then click the minus sign - to remove it.
- If you're using a MacBook, you can choose whether Time Machine can make backups when your Mac isn't plugged in to a power source. Check the box next to "Back up while on battery power" if you want Time Machine to create hourly backups on battery power.
10
Start a manual backup. If you ever want to create an immediate backup without waiting for an automatic backup to start, it's easy:
- Click the Time Machine clock icon in the menu bar.
- Click Back Up Now.
- The time and date of the last backup appears at the top of the menu. If a backup is in progress, you'll see its progress at the top of the menu instead.

Method 2

Method 2 of 2:

Backing Up to iCloud

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1
Open your System Preferences. You'll find it in the Apple menu, which is at the top-left corner of the screen.
- Unlike backing up with Time Machine, backup up files with iCloud only backs up the files you specify, such as documents and the files on your desktop. This is a good solution if you just want to back up personal files to keep another copy in the cloud.
- If you delete a backed-up file from iCloud, you won't be able to recover it. If it's important that you have files you can easily restore if you accidentally delete them, make a Time Machine backup instead.
2
Click Apple ID. It's the gray-and-white Apple icon.
- If you're using macOS Mojave or earlier, click the iCloud icon instead.^{[3]
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It's on the left side of the window.
4
Check the box next to iCloud Drive. It's at the top of the right panel. Now you can store files and documents in iCloud.
- To see how much storage you have in your plan, as well as how much you're currently using, look at the "iCloud Storage" area at the bottom of the screen. All iCloud users get 5 GB of storage automatically.^{[4]
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- If you want to get more storage, you can upgrade to iCloud+. Click the Manage button and select either Change Storage Plan or Buy More Storage to view and select a plan.
It's next to iCloud Drive in the right panel.
6
Check the box next to "Desktop and Documents Folders." This option ensures that the files on your desktop, as well as those in your Documents folder, are stored in iCloud.
- The Desktop and Documents folders will now be backed up to iCloud Drive each time you connect to the internet. The files will also be available on your other devices, as will all new files you add to those folders.
- You'll find your Desktop and Documents folders in the left panel of Finder under "iCloud."
7
Check the boxes next to other items you want to back up. You can opt to have documents created in any of the listed apps automatically synced to iCloud.
- If there are other files you want to back up to iCloud, you can always add them to a folder on your desktop or in your Documents folder, which will now be backed up to iCloud.
The selected files and folders will now be backed up to iCloud Drive each time you connect to the internet.

Expert Q&A

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Question

What if I don't want to use iCloud or Time Machine?

Chiara Corsaro
Phone & Computer Repair Technician
Chiara Corsaro is the General Manager and Apple Certified Mac & iOS Technician for macVolks, Inc., an Apple Authorized Service Provider located in the San Francisco Bay Area. macVolks, Inc. was founded in 1990, is accredited by the Better Business Bureau (BBB) with an A+ rating, and is part of the Apple Consultants Network (ACN).

Chiara Corsaro

Phone & Computer Repair Technician

Expert Answer

You can always go old school and copy files to a USB drive, CD, or DVD. It's definitely unnecessary, though; Time Machine and iCloud are pretty efficient when it comes to backing up Mac files.

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Question

How long does it take for Time Machine to back everything up?

Chiara Corsaro
Phone & Computer Repair Technician
Chiara Corsaro is the General Manager and Apple Certified Mac & iOS Technician for macVolks, Inc., an Apple Authorized Service Provider located in the San Francisco Bay Area. macVolks, Inc. was founded in 1990, is accredited by the Better Business Bureau (BBB) with an A+ rating, and is part of the Apple Consultants Network (ACN).

Chiara Corsaro

Phone & Computer Repair Technician

Expert Answer

It usually takes about 1 hour. It depends on how you have things set up and what kind of drive you're using.

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Question

Can I leave the Time Machine drive plugged in?

Chiara Corsaro
Phone & Computer Repair Technician
Chiara Corsaro is the General Manager and Apple Certified Mac & iOS Technician for macVolks, Inc., an Apple Authorized Service Provider located in the San Francisco Bay Area. macVolks, Inc. was founded in 1990, is accredited by the Better Business Bureau (BBB) with an A+ rating, and is part of the Apple Consultants Network (ACN).

Chiara Corsaro

Phone & Computer Repair Technician

Expert Answer

It's not intrinsically problematic, but I wouldn't recommend it. Those drives run on the computer's internal power supply, and they aren't designed to be plugged into a computer for an extended period of time.

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Back up your data to multiple places, including external hard drives and iCloud storage, to ensure that you have a variety of options in case one backup fails.

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Stay proactive and regularly check on your backup devices to check their integrity, ensure that your stored data is current, and to see if new, better methods for backing up your data are available.

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Prioritize the data you back up to make sure that you are protecting the materials that are most valuable and irreplaceable.

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