The BEST Backup Solution for Mac

[@richardrosenblum728]

Being a senior, the apple youtube videos that you share with us are easy to understand. You speak slowly and clearly and make it enjoyable to learn new things. Keep up the great work. Regards, Richard R.

[@DanielH-po4ur]

I'm a college student and I agree!

[@boomerhiker]

I'm a senior as well and I totally agree.

[@AngelaKerbel]

Thank you, dear David. I'm 75 years old from Venezuela and I can follow up your tutorials without any problem. You are a very good teacher

[@tawkirrahaman2022]

Your tutorials are honestly THE best in youtube when it comes to mac computers. Please keep doing what you are doing and keep up the good work. You are very knowledgable and they way you teach makes understanding everything very simple and cohesive. Thank you once again as a fellow student, we all appreciate you.

[@TechTalkAmerica]

I appreciate that!

[@johnfranklin6999]

David, you know that good feeling you get when you walk in a apartment store and as soon as you walk in the door, whatever you were going there you find it immediately? Well, this is what this video was like for me. It was "exactly" what I was looking for. I think I will be reaching out to you for a private lesson on some other things..... Thanks, and great videos.

[@gregoryh3270]

Brilliant, professional lesson. Thanks a lot. You're clear, don't ramble, and show everything you talk about.

[@jamesr.9239]

Time machine saved my butt when I first got my Mac years ago. I had been fiddling around creating multiple user accounts and forgot the Administrator I.D. I simply went back to before the screw up and was able to log in , and fix it . I use a triple system now...Icloud , time machine and an SSD that I update weekly.

[@rile2]

Loved this, helps a lot to use iCloud instead of fully relying on the time machine, great idea! Thank you

[@donnaharper4621]

Brilliant. You’re the only person besides me who seems to know about Magic Window. I’ve been using it for years. I even had a stand for my iPhone on my desk so I could watch the changes. Love Magic Window.

[@hectorbmatos1017]

Thanks again David you are my favorite go to instructor to learn about my Mac Pro Big Sur !!!!!! I always learn so much from your lessons !!! By far the best instructor on Mac and many other subjects on You Tube !!!! Salutations !!!

[@justsendit8506]

Hi David, great video! Regarding Photos and the part about leaving the computer ON: I find this extremely important subsequent to major updating, i.e. most recently, OS Mojave and iOS. Since Apple doesn’t make it very clear there’s an image update going on in the background, you’ll need to open Photos and scroll way down to the bottom in order to bring up the image counter and view its progress. When the count has completed, compare it across all of your devices AND iCloud.... This used to drive me crazy, as subsequent to a major update, I tend to shoot a few test images to confirmation sync. Most recently, syncing my images between my three devices (iPhone, iPad Pro, and MacBook Pro) seemed impossible. Once I knew of the image count going on in the background, I became more aware of needing to leave the computer ON until the update is complete. However, I wish Apple would move the image counter in Photos so you don’t need to scroll it into view, or at least add a notification that Photos is updating so you know there’s something going on before shutting-down. For my purposes, the Photos app is useful - consider me an average consumer and not a pro. However, I’ve used the app from early-on, when it was “iPhoto.” With several updates since then, I’ve noticed that Apple will make major revisions to the app without any kind of warning to its end-users, leaving you to figure things out on your own. ... Suddenly, without knowing it, you’ve become an Apple “Beta Tester.” 🍏

[@moeceesay8201]

Great Video David, I'm glad you mentioned this option, so many people now a days would definitely benefit from this. If I may make a future video suggestion, please consider making a video on how to use the terminal to get some task done, or see some information. I know it maybe something most people subscribed to you might not really know about, but I believe it'll be a great thing to learn and I'm sure most people would enjoy it.

[@Brockthedog315]

Definitely agree and have used the small thumb drives for backup. I however have had great luck with keychain for years. Works straight out across my devices. And it’s free. The other apps are expensive and mostly subscriptions. Thanks for this important topic and your clear way of explaining it.

[@DJDURL]

As a dj, photographer and vlogger, I am always looking for the best ways to store data. This was helpful!

[@annaowens5424]

My apologies again considered when you posted this tutorial! As I mentioned previously, I'm desperately trying to retrieve a super important document so I'm just reaching out to everyone and any one who might be able to troubleshoot for this in Time Machine!

[@AncientAviator]

David...you truly do a SUPERB job in many your videos. I've owned Apple products for years and STILL learn a great deal when I watch your material. GOOD ON YOU sir! Many thanks!

[@basilbcf]

I use Backblaze as my primary back up, then a FIREPROOF/ WATERPROOF 3TB iOSafe drive (bolted down) as a secondary, then Time machine to a Time capsule as a third backup. I also keep an additional backup of certain files (pictures, videos, music) to a 8TB (4TB effective) MyCloud Mirror RAID that I can access over the internet from anywhere.

[@BrianBoniMakes]

I also use Time Machine to a Time Capsule, what I would like is an option on the Time Capsule to back itself up to a cloud storage, ever heard of this? My Macs sync themselves every day, the Time Capsule should take care of itself.

[@basilbcf]

@@BrianBoniMakes You could get Carbon Copy Cloner and set it up to do this I think.

[@ClarkTangTV]

Hi David. I can’t thank you for all the great information that you’ve been putting out there to help us. Thank you! Thank you!! And thank you!!! With your great information, I can do so much with my Mac and Apple products related and never walk in the dark again. Just one topic may I suggest that is useful but many tend to ignore including myself. This topic is “CONTACT” on Apple. I got so much contacts including Facebook and other stuff on there and sometimes when I do a search for the contact that I need, I couldn’t find it. But if I make a call, it shows under the contact but unsearchable. What I want is to have an ultimate contact lists that I control and when i need it, I can find it easily. I don’t want Facebook contacts to be there. Please help on this topic. Thanks Dave in advance. Peace and Blessings...

[@abart2056]

I'm so glad you share all your imac wisdom with us on KZbin. Thanks so much!

[@desertratPS]

Dave, You are the best! I've spent hours with Apple support trying to get migrated from another Mac to a new Mac mini. They could not help me! But YOU did. Using iCloud was the best and by far the simplest way to do this. I'm a huge fan of yours as you've helped me learn bunch of stuff about the Mac. Thank you so much. And BTW, I noticed that it looks like your photos were taken at a Pride event, parade or something.

[@cornbreadth]

keychain is great. all you need to do to find your passwords is go into preferences in safari. on iphone it’s in settings. the two sources sync pretty reliably.

[@laroshi8497]

This is the most well put together computer help video I think I have ever seen. Great job!!!

[@sut2910]

I have cloned my mac’s primary drive to bootable external SSDs /hard drives using Superduper. If i feel particularly paranoid, I’ll put a copy in the safe or safe deposit box. Cloud drives are too expensive for the amount of data and none are immune from being hacked.

[@CatherineSTodd]

I agree that iCloud drives are too expensive, at $9.99 per month. Far too much money! I'll try Superduper as you suggest. Thanks. And thanks for this video, as it does have good information if you don't need to backup very much data.

[@SBB123]

Nice video. Just want to point out that icloud is not a real backup though as if you deleted something by mistake it's gone. Also USB drives are much more prone to not working so it is not good as back up. Something with versioning like crash plan which is like time machine online and using a regular external hard disk would be more reliable I think.

[@WhittyPics]

I use Time Machine to back up to 2 different hard drives combined with using Backblaze online backup. Time Machine has saved me a few times. If you have a lot of files I don't think I would be using icloud. Backblaze is unlimited data for only $50 a year if you pay a year at a time.

[@karlsmith2052]

This was excellent and helped me a lot, so thanks very much. You might think about updating it though to reflect the latest Mac OS as there are now quite a few differences. I am currently running Ventura 13.1. Luckily, I was able to figure everything out because Macs are so wonderfully intuitive to use.

[@RamaaBharadvaj]

you are a wonderful teacher. Thank you for your lucid and up to the point instructions.

[@bbruce65]

Thanks for the great video! I set up my iCloud backup and reformatted an external drive that was acting up. Your info was helpful and easy to follow. Keep up with the great work! 👍

[@banzobeans]

6:38 on keychain: I use another password manager for passwords in general. I do sync keychain to iCloud though mainly for one reason: wifi passwords are synced between phone, ipad and laptops... very convenient

[@ggd210]

my favorite Chanel.... I just got a Mac, and I'm learning everything here!! Thanks

[@MRrwmac]

David, Thank you for another very informative video for us Mac owners. I would like to use iCloud but for me and my family it’s just too expensive. Guess I’ll have to use the external drive option. Perhaps you might do a video on using a NAS for cloud storage? Thanks again!

[@biggboi1967]

David A Cox is the man!!! Great videos and super informative.

[@GrommieWolf]

Thank you! I have backed up all our Macs now. You make it easy.

[@felm.974]

Thank you so much for all this hard work. I have a question, I had backed up by files using TM and after they were backed up, I decided to delete as much as I could from my computer because I wanted to regain some space on my computer, but after doing so and emptying my trash can, I went back to my external hard drive but I noticed that many of the folders I have deleted on my computer, became like "ghost" files, with a little thing to restore the files but it didn't work. My question is, can I delete files from my computer and after doing so, will I lose everything or will my files remain backed up on my external hard drive? And, are these files had, lost forever? Any tips would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[@nounix]

do you know of any way to compare time machine backups? So like a list of differences between them where we can see which files have been added, deleted or modified between 2 or more backups on our external disk so we can quickly check the differences between all our backups and change back any files that were mistakenly changed before it's too late and the oldest backup gets replaced as time passes as we may not have even noticed a change (deletion, addition or modification) on certain files that we may not want to remain as such? That would be a VERY VERY useful tool!!

[@albertzappa1994]

i have been using a time capsule to backup a iMac and a macbook pro , i have another time capsule and was wondering if i should use one for the desktop and the other one for the macbook or continue to use the one for both? also the desktop is a 2020 iMac i purchased this week.thanks.💚🍏

[@mbsbtb0]

I don't know why some people click on the thumbs down icon. I think you are brilliant (and handsome with it) You have helped me many times. Thank you from Bonnie Scotland.

[@voyagerman22]

The Time Machine Editor is a great app, thanks. It is so nice not hearing external drive doing an hourly back-up, but do have another question. Is it possible to have Time Machine Drive drive sleep between daily back-ups? Thanks, again.

[@pinterestexpress8870]

Thanks for the vid-very helpful. I have a MacBook & use MS 365 office suit. Is it possible to put this on the icloud or is this pointless? Thanks

[@joeglennaz]

Hey David Goodmorning Phoenix Arizona. Is this your most current video about backing up at Mack? I guess my question is can I use this in May 2023? I’m looking to get all my MacBook Pro back ups dialed in and the proper manner. Thank you. I really like your videos in classes.

[@simianinc]

Thanks for your video. Just one question - any reason why you didn’t encrypt your time machine backup?

[@goingblindmusic]

Thanks for this but I have a question. If I trash my Macbook Air, Current-Mac, ( as I once did by spilling hot coffee on the keyboard ) how do I restore all my old data onto my new Future-Mac from iCloud? Is it simply a matter of logging into iCloud on Future-Mac using the old settings & then waiting for a few days for it all to automagically sync? Let's assume that the Time Machine backup onto my local Seagate external USB 1Tb HDD was also lost in the unforseen event that destroyed Current-Mac. ( luckily last time I was able to restore everything very quickly using the Time Machine backup on my Airport but a house fire could take out both Current-Mac & Seagate). Reason I'm asking is I'm trying to work out whether Backblaze is a better solution than iCloud purely for this purpose. Or if it makes sense to have all 3 - iCloud, Backblaze & Time Machine on a local HDD? Backblaze certainly seems to make it easier to get at individual files than icloud , but what I don't like is that you then have to buy a snail mail disk & wait for that to come from the US ( where I'm not ) before I could restore onto Future-Mac. Even once I got the Backblaze disk I'm not clear on how easy it would be to restore a whole machine?

[@idlersdream826]

Thanks David, another great video, but I just wish Apple would separate the Desktop & Documents option, I don’t want to backup my desktop to iCloud.

[@rosac8168]

Wow thank you so much I learned so much I have a 2011 iMac and the time machine said it a full didnt know what to do

[@larousse87]

Adding to the customer consensus: extremely well presented. What a relief! But… I don’t understand why iCloud does not back up the Pictures folder. Not only that, but I don’t see the omission mentioned in any video or support dock (including your otherwise truly excellent clip). What gives? I need those pictures backed up too (and I don’t use the Photos app)

[@darrene.mathews5566]

David, this video--alike all your others--was pellucid in the instruction. I learned some valuable tips.

[@LBSNor1234]

Love your videos. So clear, concise and full of GREAT information!!!

[@vanstylez4979]

Hi David. Great video however you neglected to mention (or maybe you don't even know) that Time Machine will backup iCloud Drive, as long as you have not enabled "Optimize Mac Storage". It will only backup those files that are downloaded and not any files that have been offloaded to the cloud to "optimize" (save space).

[@aimeecaylumrealtorevong2132]

Thank-you very much! Clear and Concise video. Worked perfectly! Thank-you. We may need your services.

[@allenschneider1847]

If the photos library (and documents and desk top) are in in icloud, and optimization is "off", does it great two different folders; one for icloud and one for the hard drive? In the finder. Is the photo library still in the "pictures" folder or is it now in a icloud folder? If the photos (documents;desktop) are in icloud and I want to make a copy to an external HD, can I simply drag the photos library to the new HD icon, or do I have to download them from the cloud before I can copy them to another HD?

[@TheMacGuy2]

Thank you for taaching on this topic! It is very helpful, having some confusion about the best way to back up and use Time Machine!

[@JoeSiegler]

This is the way I do it too. Primary is iCloud, with Time Machine as well. I used to use Carbonite, but since I needed the iCloud space for my photo collection (see other video comment I made), I decided to go with this. The only thing I miss from Carbonite is historical backup. If you accidentally nuke a file on the desktop, it's gone from the cloud, too. Carbonite allowed you to recover from mistakes like that. Anyway, the other thing you mention about video projects outside the cloud directories is something I had to do too. Found that one out on my own. ha. :)

[@anchorblazer]

Awesome Video David! Do you necessarily have to erase the external hard drive that you want to use for Time Machine? I have some photos already on it. Still lots of room left. Thanks!

[@frankwalder3608]

I use Carbon Copy Cloner, though the need for off-sight storage is still important.

[@frantisca]

Thanks for the tip. I use Time Machine with the editor for quite a while. Regarding the backup on iCloud: I have 1TB of data... I suppose I need then to purchase additional space on iCloud to back it up ?

[@jewillis100]

Hi David can I ask are the private lessons held remotely? I loved this video in fact all your videos thank you for being so generous with your time

[@MisterSkraetsch]

Thanks for your video and explanation. Very well done! Just a quick question which confuses me a bit. For example the documents/folder they get duplicated when enabling it in icloud. So where do I have to change a document for examplewhich one is the basis´or does it not matter? How do I have to proceed if I want to disable icloud again without loosing my files? Thanks!

[@pauloz7166]

Great video. And a good news that it is possible to save all the data in icloud. However, how much is the size that can be used in icloud drive? Is it only 5GB, I mean for free?

[@caznden]

Most Helpful, Thank You, Happy New Year.

[@freddymiguelponce]

GREAT VIDEO as always! Thank you! If you allow me one question please I want to have a permanent Time Machine Back up Drive in my desktop and another "off site" Back up Drive in other location. If i buy 2 extra HHDs, can i use the Super Duper app to clone my Time Machine Back up drive? The idea is to "rotate" the 2 extra HHDs weekly; so i can duplicate my main Time Machine Back up every week, and take that duplicate disk off site. (i also will keep the iCloud back up too) I hope I have explained myself well Thanks in advance and sorry for my English, i`m still learning Have a Productive and Healthy Day!

[@RustyX111]

Thank you David - another great instructional video! 👍

[@DiveDiva2007]

Already doing much of this but it’s great to know I’m doing the right thing.

[@Robonthemoor]

I find you simple to understand great channel I'm trying to watch the adds so you get paid, didn't know about that.

[@Darignobullseye]

That was so VERY Helpful! THANK YOU!!

[@vparrott8556]

Thanks for an easy to follow tutorial. Do you do one on audio out my microphone does not work on Zoom meetings?

[@MRrwmac]

David, Another absolutely great presentation and informational video! You never cease to amaze me! I’m still learning (slowly) Mac OS and therefore send anyone who asks about how to use it to you! Q- Does Time Machine do a FULL backup (OS, apps, settings and all data created) to an external device so that if I must replace the drive I could somehow (??) reinstall the OS etc? I guess I’m looking for something that makes a perfect image drive (replace the HD and it works once the new HD is recognized)? Thank you again for the Great content!

[@cushman47]

Great video David thanks for sharing

[@donnaharper4621]

Thanks David. As usual, your videos are full of interesting and useful information. My Timemachine has been saying its full for ages, but I didn’t know what to do other than get another external hard drive. Now I’ll see about backing it all up to iCloud. By the way, where did you get that amazing wallpaper on your Mac? It’s great. Keep up the good work.

[@cyndifeeney1049]

David, do you suggest using the USB-C as a backup for Carbon Copy Cloner? Convenient in an emergency/catastrophe when evacuating home. Hurricane season is almost upon us in Florida and this would be handy for leaving on our house keychain or near door to leave home.

[@MrAqadii]

Very clear and helpful! Thank you

[@ashpole20]

The way you showed the iCloud settings (Optimise) means it’s not guaranteed that you’ll have all the data you thought you’d have in your Time Machine backup.

[@matthewelerick648]

Michael Blake true

[@vanstylez4979]

Correct. I wonder if he understands that Time Machine will backup iCloud Drive, as long as you have not enabled "Optimize Mac Storage".

[@stevenkarp1783]

Thank you for your help Steven

[@MrLowdog5]

Hi David...1st off...Love your Mac info videos.....question:......I have a 4tb external drive that I want to back up my Mac desktop on but I would also like to use it for GoPro videos and videos that I create on IMovie.......would either have an effect with one another if they were on the same external drive?....Thanks.

[@rachelanderson9]

Amazing. Thank you so much- this is everything I needed! Ill be reaching out for some private help when I get my new equipment :)

[@annaowens5424]

Great job! And I know this is 3 years old, but I'm reaching out in case you still check messages on this video! In time machine, the "little" lines (before "today" or "right now" are not available to click on unless I click and hold down "Today," but once I let "today" go, I am unable to click on the little lines I see that are for yesterday. Any help on this would be greatly appreciated!

[@pathdoc60]

David, Thank you. As always, an excellent and clear tutorial, and one I need to do on my Mac. Michael O’Brien

[@lawful73]

Hello, I have 2 concerns about Time Machine. If I have set optimized storage in iCloud Drive and Photos (since I only have 256GB SSD in my Mac), I understand that not all my Documents an Photos are in my Mac. So, how does Time Machine work in that scenario to backup all my iCloud content? Thank you!

[@woodstockenvy4666]

I have burned my most critical data onto gold DVD's .. a job that took extensive time. I also saved most of the rest on quality HDD's in triplicate. After all this work, I recently found an old flash drive from over ten years ago filled with video and HQ photos .. all the data was perfect. It had been sitting idle in a desk drawer in a cool climate for a decade. This has changed my entire outlook and now I have been considering using high quality Samsung and Lexar flash drives .. as, YES .. a method of long term archiving. "Re-writing all the data" every couple of years onto new flash drives and storing it in triplicate in different locales. It is amazingly fast, apparently reliable .. and goes against everything I always thought archiving should be. I am becoming a believer in the ability of multiple duplicate flash drives, USB thumb drives .. holding my most precious data. I still keep everything on HDD, but the mechanical nature haunts me as does the old DVD reading devices. I'm actually sleeping better using flash .. as long as I rewrite it every few years.

[@tkt03]

Needed this. Thank you so much!

[@BretReidFishing]

I just saw this great video! Love it! I do have a question though, I have 1 iCloud account that I use for both my personal (2 MacBooks) and my work iMac. I work for a electric company so they own the iMac. I turned everything for iCloud because I don't want my personal and professional documents mixed up. What would you advise on this type of setup? thank you very much!!

[@VuTubeist]

While most of my files are not confidential, others are of security concern. In other words, would an iCloud backup provide security protections such as encryption? Cloud services for backup purposes might let me sleep better knowing my data is backed up, but sensitive data needs higher levels of protection. Does iCloud offer this? Is there a better way to satisfy both needs?

[@cb4001979]

Hi David. I also backup my IPhone on Itunes but to an external drive. But with the new Mac OS Catalina, how do i do the same back up which is now using Finder instead of Itunes? Can you come up with a video for that?

[@GrantBennett]

This technically isn’t backup, just a duplication which certainly can’t be called “BEST”, but it is better than nothing. The single point of failure still exists with the time machine drive. Dropbox certainly shouldn’t feature in anyone’s backup solution - it’s a sync solution for convenience. Backblaze b2 cloud, or Wasabi, or similar, should feature for the price, or even a NAS drive offsite if possible. There is so much more to true backup than just enabling iCloud.

[@kdyn_]

iCloud is also a sync solution not a backup tool.

[@scottd1342]

Totally agree this is not a backup solution; it's a sync solution.

[@marygraydon1261]

Excellent presentation and very helpful as I am taking my 2018 Macbook Pro back to Apple to be destroyed!

[@andyabraham7269]

Thanks mate from Australia for your great info.

[@rad4878]

Hi David. Thank you for the informative video. I have a question about your presentation on backing up on iCloud. How one knows your information on your computer (i.e. Document and Desktop Folders) are safe with a third party such as Apple?? WIth all the "hacking" the information that goes around the world, this has been my primary concerns on backing up any information on the cloud-- including iCloud. Please explain. Thank you.

[@markelliot2994]

Excellent...when you have a moment can you explain how you would set iCloud backup for a family...I would like to have my wife's computer and ipad backed up to my cloud account...many thanks

[@jasonubrown]

Glad I found this, I was looking for a solution to back up my video files. I was wondering If my time machine drive could be the second drive in a daisy chain (first drive hooked up to my computer, second time machine hooked up to my first drive)? I'm assuming they would just need the same connection types. Thank you.

[@luvclu]

Great video as usual. Noticed it looked like you were running Malwarebytes on your computer. I ran it on my old computer because the technician at the Genius Bar mentioned about running it for the free trial to check for viruses when I was having issues on the old computer. I was thinking of maybe installing it on my new 2018 MacBook Pro I purchased this past August but wasn’t sure if it was worth paying for after the free trial. Also if it’s worth buying it I wonder if there’s a teacher student discount version. How would you recommend transferring applications and other important files pictures etc. from my old Macbook pro to my new 2018 MacBook Pro. I did not do time machine on my old computer and I currently have my new computer up and running after a few months so it would be hard to put the back up from the old to the new one. I have my files put on various cloud back up is like dropbox, box, Google drive etc. Though I’m not sure how to move the applications over some of them were downloaded on the computer and others were put on using the CD.

[@JS-jh4cy]

Is it a good double insurance to back up to time machine and flash drive? For the important data and software?

[@aliciafowler3933]

SSDs are great to use. My preferred method.

[@benrogan2797]

Hi David, Which Mac NAS drive would you recommend, since the Apple Time Capsule was discontinued.

[@carlosmartinez2121]

Hi David, may I ask something about an external hard drive to make backups? Is it a good idea to make some partition of the drive to separate programs and applications from documents? I will use an external drive for the first time in my life, and I'd like to do it in a proper manner. Thanks a lot for all the efforts you do to share your knowledge.

[@Msenlightened1]

I followed your steps but i clicked on the encrypt option. I got an alert that says time machine could not do a backup cause of something about snapshot? Does it have something to do with me using the encrypt option? Thanks

[@mariellerus]

Your videos are absolutely great! So helpful. And you have the most beautiful eyes!

[@mele2259]

Hello. Does the iMac have to connected to internet via Wi- Fi? I've been trying to back up to iCloud for 5 days and it seems to be extremely slow. I do have a lot on my iMac though. Will it back up if my iMac is hard wired to internet ? Thanks

[@Tag-VR-Zone]

Haven’t watched in a while but, great new camera!

[@tyrique111]

after backing up on the external hard drive and recovering it after, can you then plug out the back up hard drive? or would you still have to have it connected for you to access the recovered files ?

[@dongvienthai]

Hi David, I’m looking to purchase a Drobo and I remembered you doing a review of it but searching your channel, I couldn’t find it. Do you still recommend Drobo as an external storage solution for content creators? Thank you for any feedback. Love your tutorials and advice!

[@mele2259]

Hello. I just switched over to an orbi mesh system after using time capsule for years as a router . How do I reset the time capsule to use as only a time machine back up for my macs and not as a router ? Thanks v much

[@malclilley]

A useful refresher - thank you.