If you keep important files on your Mac's hard drive, it's prudent to assume that eventually the hard drive will fail, or that you will accidentally delete a file. You can avoid losing data by backing up files on a regular basis. For added safety, you can back up files on a small USB memory key, or drive, and store it in a separate location, such as in a safe deposit box at the bank. You can also use a USB drive to transfer backed-up files between your work and home computer.

Back Up Manually

Step 1

Now that you’re ready to back up your Mac, you may need an external hard drive to serve as a backup destination. As an alternative to building your own, you might prefer to buy a ready-made drive. External hard drives are a great choice for backups, and something that I highly recommend for this purpose.

Get a USB memory drive with sufficient capacity to back up your most crucial files, if not your entire hard drive. A USB memory drive can be purchased at most retail and electronics stores.

Step 2

Plug the USB memory drive into a USB port on the Mac. The drive will mount on the desktop, appearing as a disk drive.

Step 3

Drag files and folders from the hard drive to the USB drive to back them up manually.

Step 4

Drag the USB drive on the desktop into the 'Trash' icon on the Dock to close the close out the connection between the computer and the USB drive. Unplug the USB drive from the computer and store it in a safe place.

Step 1

Launch Apple's native 'Time Machine' utility if you want to back up files automatically. You will need a USB memory drive with as much capacity as the hard drive you want to back up.

Step 2

Plug the USB memory drive into the computer.

Step 3

Click 'Select Backup Disk' and then select the USB drive as your backup location. Time Machine will start backing up your hard drive. Once it has finished the initial backup, it will keep track of your files and back them up every hour.

Step 4

Drag the USB image on the desktop into the 'Trash' icon on the Dock to close the close out the connection between the USB drive and the computer. Unplug the USB drive from the computer and store it in a safe place.

Step 1

Download a free file backup application such as Carbon Copy Cloner, SilverKeeper or PsyncX (see Resources) to perform automated backups of only a portion of your hard drive to a USB memory drive. You may only want to back up your documents folder, for example, and don't have enough room on the USB drive to back up your entire hard drive using Time Machine.

Step 2

Plug the USB memory drive into your computer.

Step 3

Launch the application, select what folders or files to back up and designate the USB memory drive as the backup location.

Step 4

Drag the USB image on the desktop into the 'Trash' icon on the Dock to close the close out the connection to the drive after the backup is complete. Unplug the USB drive from the computer and store it in a safe place.

About the Author

Julius Vandersteen has been a freelance writer since 1999. His work has appeared in “The Los Angeles Times,” “Wired” and “S.F. Weekly.” Vandersteen has a Bachelor of Arts in journalism from San Francisco State University.

Backup Programs For Mac

Photo Credits

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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.

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.

• 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

Best Backup Drives For Mac

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

Wireless Backup Drive For Mac

• 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.