If you like backup all filesdocuments, downloaded applications, emails, photographs, etc. that you have on your Mac computer, Apple has a very useful tool that will help you make regular backups and not lose anything you have stored in a very simple way.
It is called Time Machine and it is installed by default on Mac computers. To use it, you just have to open it, connect an external hard drive and follow the instructions, as you will see below. Remember that if what you want is to transfer the information you had on another computer to your new Mac, what you have to use is the Migration Assistantanother tool that we explained to you in the linked article.
Step by step to make a backup with Time Machine
-Connect the storage device. If you want to automatically back up your files and documents, the first thing you need to do is connect an external hard drive, USB drive, or any other external storage device to your Mac.
As a recommendation, it should be a storage device that has at least double the capacity of your Mac. So, if your computer has, let’s imagine, 256 GB of storage, it should be a device that has at least 512 GB of storage. ability. Better if it is older.
It is also recommended that you use that hard drive or device only for Time Machine backups and not use it for other files.
-Open the Time Machine app on your Mac and select the storage drive. Click on the Apple menu in the upper left corner of the screen and select “System Settings.” Under “General” in the sidebar, click Time Machine. Click on + to add your backup disk, selecting the connected storage device.
-Configure backup. Time Machine will ask you if you want to erase the storage device and you will have it ready to make backups.
-Make backup copies. You just have to click “Back up” in the Time Machine menu or in the menu bar.
You can also wait for the next automatic backup to occur, which by default is every hour for the last 24 hours, every day for the last month, and weekly for the previous months. You can select another frequency in the Time Machine configuration options, in the “Open Settings” / “Options” / “Backup Frequency” option.
In the Time Machine menu in the menu bar you will see information about the backup that is currently being performed or the date and time of the last backup.
While backups are being made, you can continue using your computer without problem. The first backup usually takes longer, but the rest are done very quickly, since Time Machine only backs up files that have changed since the last backup made.
