Mac

Backing Up Mac Doesn’t Have to Be Hard. Read These 3 Simple Methods

4 minutes read
Written By
Updated On

We all have innumerable data stored on our Mac and you never know when you’ll be a victim of data loss. System crash, Malware, a theft or even an accidental deletion may result in permanent loss of data – which includes work presentations, your favorite music collection or precious photos etc.

To prevent data loss from untoward incidents, the simple yet wise and important thing to do is to back up your Mac. Listed down are three methods to backup;

Method #1: iTunes

Using iTunes to organize your music library is an easy way to keep your data backup ready. Clean sweep your Mac for any audio files into iTunes that aren’t there already. To do that; do this:

Open iTunes go to

  • File, then Library and then Organize Library.
  • Then check mark the Consolidate files box and click OK.

Method #2: iCloud

Your another option to back up your data. This option is available in OS X v10.7.4 and versions. First, you have to turn on iCloud in your system to use it.

  • Click on Apple Menu on the top left-hand corner of the screen.
  • Click-on iCloud > Enter your Apple ID & Password.
  • Tick the box to use iCloud to back up your data.
  • Click Next button

Apple provides 5 GB of free storage space on iCloud. If you wish to use only the 5 GB space, then choose the most important data to back up. By default, all boxes are checked to backup automatically. You can uncheck the boxes that you don’t want to backup in iCloud.

If you want more space to store your data, you can purchase the storage space depending on your need from options available. For this go to

  • System Preference > iCloud > Manage
  • Click on Change Storage Plan
  • Choose the Storage space and enter payment details.

Now, iCloud will automatically back up the data you have selected.

Method #3: External Hard Drive Using Time Machine

  • Connect the external storage drive like a memory card with huge storage capacity or others to your computer with the help of cable like FireWire, USB etc. or you can directly connect it to your mac via “Apple Time Capsule”.
  • Format your external hard drive to make sure the files are stored properly.
  • When an external drive is connected, the time Machine will automatically launch asking you if you may want to use the external hard drive to backup Time machine. If it doesn’t, you can go to ‘System Preference’ then ‘Time Machine’ and then select the external hard drive as ‘Backup Disk’.

In the same box, you’ll also see ‘Encrypt backups’, you can check this box if you want to restore your Mac from Time Machine Backup in the future. This requires a password as well.

  • Upon turning the Time Machine on, the backing up process starts. This may take a lot of time maybe overnight, depending on the data to be backed up.

Time Machine will create a backup of your Mac automatically on an hourly basis, ‘daily backups for the past month’, ‘weekly backups for all previous months’. You can also change the backup preferences according to your needs. Furthermore, you can select specific data to be backed up by Time Machine in System Preferences.

And now you have your options to back up your Mac presented to you, it shouldn’t be hard to create a timely backup of your Mac. Be careful while transferring your data to memory cards or from the external storage drive to your mac, as there might be chances of data loss. In such cases, you can rely on trustworthy data recovery software, which recover cards on Mac OS.

About the Author: John Harris

With a decade of experience in data recovery, John Harris, Senior Editor at Remo Software, is your go-to specialist. His focus includes partition management, Windows solutions, and data troubleshooting, delivering insightful content that serves both users and search engines. John's expertise shines through in illuminating blog posts, untangling data loss intricacies across diverse storage platforms.…