What is TimeMachine for Mac?
We all have gone through some times where we have lost our data one way or the other. Those files or photos that we have lost might be very important or unique and there is no way of getting them back. However, if you are a Mac user then Apple has a solution for these errors or mistakes.
Time Machine for Mac is a built-in backup application for Mac. The amazing thing about Time Machine is that if you need to restore the files, everything that was on your Mac a day (weeks or even months) before could be restored exactly like it was that day. This is extremely useful if you work with photos, files or other important data.
Setting up Time Machine
In order to setup a Time Machine for Mac you need to have an empty hard rive that will work as a backup destination, the larger the hard drive, the longer you can go back in time.
Time Machine can back up to devices like, external hard drives or solid state drives that are connected to Mac through USB, Thunderbolt, FireWire or USB-C.
External hard drives or SSD connected to the USB port of Apple Airport Extreme 802.11 ac or other Wi-Fi routers that are compatible with Time Machine can also be used as backup destinations. Apple AirPort Time Capsule or OS X servers can also work as backup destinations if they and the Mac are on the same network.
Once you have the Time Machine harde drive, you simply need to connect it to your Mac and then select “Use as Backup Disk”.
Initial and daily backups
The initial backup might take some time as it will backup all your files on your computer at that time. After the initial backup is done Time Machine will look for your hourly changes and will backup those changes. Those hourly changes will later on backup as your daily backup.
Once the backup destination device reaches its full storage capacity, Time Machine will start deleting the oldest backup to make up the space for your most recent backup. Time Machine will also backup your Mac when it is in standy by mode.
Restoring files with Time Machine
There will be a time that you need to restore those backups, as that was the whole point of using Time Machine. To restore a file on your Mac you need switch to finder and then choose “Enter Time Machine” from Time Machine menu. Once you enter Time Machine you will be able to see a timeline of backups on the right side.
If you know the date and time when the file was lost, simply choose the backup before that time. If you don’t know when the file was deleted you can search file from Time Machine finder window (from search field on the top right of the Finder window) and then search the backups to find that file by clicking “back in time” or up arrow. In case you don’t know the name of the file you will have to go through all the back-ups until you see the file.
Once you know which backup version you want to restore, simply click on it and then click “Restore” below the Finder Window.
You can also revert the documents to the earlier version if it is supported by the app. To revert the version of a file:
1. Open the file and enter Time Machine from the Time Machine menu
2. Then select file
3. Revert to > Browse all versions.
