You can use Time Machine, the built-in backup feature of your Mac, to automatically back up all of your files, including apps, music, photos, email, documents, and system files. When you have a backup, you can restore files from your backup if the original files are ever deleted from your Mac, or the hard disk (or SSD) in your Mac is erased or replaced.

Create a Time Machine backup

To create backups with Time Machine, all you need is an external storage device. After you connect the device and select it as your backup disk, Time Machine automatically makes hourly backups for the past 24 hours, daily backups for the past month, and weekly backups for all previous months. The oldest backups are deleted when your backup disk is full.

If you are going to use an external hard drive or an external SSD to back up your Mac data, then you should start by formatting it for the MacOS extended file system — besides a few exceptions. Discover the world of external hard drives for Mac. Compare portable, USB and external hard drive models for office and home and shop online. Seagate Backup Plus Slim 1TB External Hard Drive Portable HDD – Black USB 3.0 for PC Laptop and Mac, 1 year Mylio Create, 2 Months Adobe CC Photography (STHN1000400) 4.6 out of 5 stars 5,034 $50.99 $ 50. 99 $79.99 $79.99. Connect your external hard drive to Mac and let Mac recognize it. Launch the software, click the first. Get a backup drive. This can be just about any USB external hard drive, and you can get them at most electronics stores. Try to get one that has twice as much space as your computer, so.

Connect an external storage device

Connect one of the following external storage devices, sold separately. Learn more about backup disks that you can use with Time Machine.

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• External drive connected to your Mac, such as a USB, Thunderbolt, or FireWire drive
• External drive connected to an AirPort Extreme Base Station (802.11ac model) or AirPort Time Capsule
• AirPort Time Capsule
• Mac shared as a Time Machine backup destination
• Network-attached storage (NAS) device that supports Time Machine over SMB

Select your storage device as the backup disk

When you connect an external drive directly to your Mac, you might be asked if you want to use the drive to back up with Time Machine. Select Encrypt Backup Disk (recommended), then click Use as Backup Disk.

An encrypted backup is accessible only to users with the password. Learn more about keeping your backup disk secure.

If Time Machine doesn't ask to use your drive, follow these steps to add it manually:

1. Open Time Machine preferences from the Time Machine menu in the menu bar. Or choose Apple () menu > System Preferences, then click Time Machine.
2. Click Select Backup Disk (or Select Disk, or Add or Remove Backup Disk):
   
3. Select your external drive from the list of available disks. Then select ”Encrypt backups” (recommended) and click Use Disk:
   

If the disk you selected isn't formatted as required by Time Machine, you're prompted to erase the disk first. Click Erase to proceed. This erases all information on the backup disk.

Enjoy the convenience of automatic backups

After you select a backup disk, Time Machine immediately begins making periodic backups—automatically and without further action by you. The first backup may take a long time, depending on how many files you have, but you can continue using your Mac while a backup is underway. Time Machine backs up only the files that changed since the previous backup, so future backups will be faster.

To start a backup manually, choose Back Up Now from the Time Machine menu in the menu bar. Use the same menu to check the status of a backup or skip a backup in progress.

Learn more

• If you back up to multiple disks, you can switch disks before entering Time Machine. Press and hold the Option key, then choose Browse Other Backup Disks from the Time Machine menu.
• To exclude items from your backup, open Time Machine preferences, click Options, then click the Add (+) button to add an item to be excluded. To stop excluding an item, such as an external hard drive, select the item and click the Remove (–) button.
• If using Time Machine to back up to a network disk, you can verify those backups to make sure they're in good condition. Press and hold Option, then choose Verify Backups from the Time Machine menu.
• In OS X Lion v10.7.3 or later, you can start up from your Time Machine disk, if necessary. Press and hold Option as your Mac starts up. When you see the Startup Manager screen, choose “EFI Boot” as the startup disk.

This article explains how to back up hard drive data on your Mac when OS X won’t boot. You may be having start up issues with your Mac. If your Mac won’t turn on, recovering your files can be challenging, but it is not impossible.

Your data is valuable, thus backups are important. You should back your files regularly, so you do not lose your files.

You may fix most of startup related issues. Before doing anything, however, you may want to backup your files and documents.

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. This method will backup to an external hard drive.

Please note that there’s no guarantee your data is recoverable. This method may not work for you.

Here is how to back up your Mac:

We are using OS X El Capitan. Earlier OS X versions have slightly different interface.

1-Connect your external hard drive to your Mac (yes you need an external hard disk). Make sure this drive has enough spare disk space to store your backup files.

2-Boot your Mac into Recovery Mode. Follow the steps to do this: Ssh for mac iphone.

• Shut down your Mac
• Restart your Mac and hold down the Command and R keys immediately after you hear the startup chime. Keep holding them until you see the Apple logo.
• Wait until you see the OS X Utilities windows
• Select Disk Utility and click Continue

• Select the Disk you want to back up, such as Macintosh HD

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• Select File > New Image > Image from “Macintosh HD or Your Drive”

• You may change its name, if you want to

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• Select your external drive
• Choose “compressed”
• Select Save
• Your backup process will start. It may take some time.

3- You will notified you when the process is done.

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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.

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Making backups of your files is important. Before losing anything, back up now. You may want to use the OS X Time Machine feature to easily create back up files. That is the easiest way to back up your Mac. You may also use iCloud to back up some of your files like musics, photos etc.