#BEST EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE TIME MACHINE HOW TO#
#BEST EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE TIME MACHINE PASSWORD#
#BEST EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE TIME MACHINE PLUS#
#BEST EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE TIME MACHINE MAC#

Click Select Backup Disk and find the disk for the backups to be stored.

Click the padlock icon and type in your user password, then tick Back Up Automatically.

Launch Time Machine: enter Time Machine in Spotlight, then set it up.

Select Encrypt Backup Disk (recommended), then choose Use as Backup Disk.

Note: you might be asked whether you wish to use the drive to backup with Time Machine, so confirm that.

Connect an external hard drive directly to your Mac.

Now, let’s backup your computer using Time Machine:

Open Security Options, ensuring that the drive is set to write over any past data at least three times (for SATA drives, not SSDs).

The Case-sensitive option differentiates folders with upper/lowercase letters ( for instance, “May” and “may” are not the same).

#BEST EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE TIME MACHINE PASSWORD#

Consider the Encrypted option for more security as it adds a password and encryption.

#BEST EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE TIME MACHINE PLUS#

The macOS Extended (Journaled) format uses Journaled HFS Plus to keep all your data organized. Specify the new map scheme: select the most appropriate format for you: Extended (Journaled), Extended (Journaled, Encrypted), as well as Extended (Case-sensitive, Journaled), and others.Erase the drive by hitting Erase, confirm your intention and rename your drive.Specify the hard drive you want to reformat: you can see all of your Mac’s drives and volumes in Disk Utility, so it’s crucial to select the proper one.Type Disk Utility in Spotlight and hit it to launch.Connect your hard drive to your computer.If not, format it using the following steps (but be aware that formatting your drive will completely erase any files that might already be saved on it):

#BEST EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE TIME MACHINE MAC#

You should use a drive that has at least twice your Mac’s storage capacity.Ģ) Ensure that your external hard drive is pre-formatted for your Mac: Not all external hard drives come Mac pre-formatted, so before you get started, make sure the drive you are going to use is suitable for your computer. In short, Time Machine is a great backup option for your Mac as it’s automatic, timely, customizable, and reliable.īefore we get started with the Time Machine backup process, consider these two prerequisites:ġ) Ensure that both your Mac and your external hard drive have enough space: To check your Mac’s storage data, hit the Apple menu in the top-left of your screen. And the best part? Everything is done automatically. Please note that once you’ve run out of disk space, Time Machine will automatically erase your oldest backup version to make space for the new one.

When you set up your Mac’s Time Machine, it will automatically make backups on an hourly, daily, and weekly basis. You can also back up from a USB port on an AirPort Extreme Base Station on your network and Time Machine allows you to back up with a supported network drive such as Time Capsule. With it, you can back up to an external hard drive connected by USB, Firewire or Thunderbolt port on your Mac. By default, your computer comes with this backup option. Time Machine is the most common method for an incremental macOS backup.

#BEST EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE TIME MACHINE HOW TO#

How to Backup Your Mac to An External Hard Drive with Time Machine Selective data backup: you select only some folders or files that you wish to backup.Bootable version of your Mac’s hard drive: you create a clone of your Mac’s hard drive.Incremental macOS backup: your Mac system along with all its data is backed-up.Generally, there are three common types of data backup: If your Mac is running on an older version, you might notice some slight differences, but the entire process will still look the same. Please note that the screenshots you will see below are taken on macOS High Sierra. We will go over how to backup your Mac on an external hard drive. In this article, we’ll review some of the best options you can use to backup your Mac, ranging from Time Machine to third-party software.Īn external hard drive is a preferred choice for many as a physical location to keep, protect and share digital data. To ensure that you never lose any of the digital “things” that matter to you, consider using multiple backup methods.

Best external hard drive time machine