You then connect the two computers by opening Finder on the Mac you wish to back up and double-clicking the destination Mac listed under Network.Įnter the username and password for the destination Mac and click Connect. To use another Mac as your backup destination, you’ll need to create a shared folder on it to serve as the backup location. If the disk isn't formatted to support the Mac and Time Machine, you’re asked to erase the disk first. Open System Preferences and go to Time Machine > Select Backup Disk, then select the drive and click Use Disk. You may also use iCloud to back up some of your files like musics, photos etc.In the case of an external drive, plug it into your Mac and make sure its icon appears on the desktop. That is the easiest way to back up your Mac. You may want to use the OS X Time Machine feature to easily create back up files. Making backups of your files is important. If you get a new Mac, and want to restore your back up, you may use Migration Assistant transfer the data back to your Mac. It may take some time.ģ- You will notified you when the process is done.

You may change its name, if you want to.

Select File > New Image > Image from “Macintosh HD or Your Drive”.Select the Disk you want to back up, such as Macintosh HD.Wait until you see the OS X Utilities windows.Keep holding them until you see the Apple logo. Restart your Mac and hold down the Command and R keys immediately after you hear the startup chime.Make sure this drive has enough spare disk space to store your backup files.Ģ-Boot your Mac into Recovery Mode. Earlier OS X versions have slightly different interface.ġ-Connect your external hard drive to your Mac (yes you need an external hard disk). Please note that there’s no guarantee your data is recoverable. This method will backup to an external hard drive. What you can do is to get a system image, which includes copies of your programs, system settings, and files, using OS X’s Disk Utility to perform the backup. Before doing anything, however, you may want to backup your files and documents. You may fix most of startup related issues. You should back your files regularly, so you do not lose your files. Your data is valuable, thus backups are important. If your Mac won’t turn on, recovering your files can be challenging, but it is not impossible. You may be having start up issues with your Mac. This article explains how to back up hard drive data on your Mac when OS X won’t boot.

Backup my mac with time machine