Best Wifi Backup Drive For Mac

Back up with Time Machine

Automatically back up all your files with Time Machine, which is built in to your Mac, or choose another backup method.

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Create a backup

Store files in iCloud

You can also use iCloud and iCloud Drive to store files, such as your photos, documents, and music.

Set up iCloud and iCloud Drive

Restore your Mac from a backup

When you have a backup, you can use it to restore your files at any time, including after the original files are deleted from your Mac.

Restore from a backup

Prepare your Mac for service

Making a backup is an important part of preparing your Mac for service, especially because some types of repair might require erasing or replacing your hard drive.

Get your Mac ready for service

How much space do I need for a backup?

To see the size of a specific file or folder, click it once and then press Command-I. To see storage information about your Mac, click the Apple menu in the top-left of your screen. Choose About This Mac and click the Storage tab. For Time Machine backups, it's good to use a drive that has at least twice the storage capacity of your Mac.

Free up storage on your Mac

macOS can save space by storing your content in the cloud. This isn't a backup, but it includes new tools to make it easier to find and remove large or unwanted files before you make a backup.

Use Optimized Storage in macOS

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Erase or format a storage device

You can use Disk Utility if you need to erase or format a storage device.

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Learn how to use Disk Utility

Have a question?

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To use Time Machine to make a backup of your Mac, you need one of these types of storage devices:

  • External drive connected to an AirPort Extreme Base Station (802.11ac) or AirPort Time Capsule

External drive connected to your Mac

Time Machine can back up to an external drive connected to a USB, Thunderbolt, or FireWire port on your Mac. If the disk isn't using the correct format, Time Machine will prompt you to erase it.

Network-attached storage (NAS) device that supports Time Machine over SMB

Many third-party NAS devices support Time Machine over SMB. For details, check the documentation for your NAS device.

Mac shared as a Time Machine backup destination

To use another Mac on your network as a Time Machine backup destination, complete these steps on the other Mac:

  1. Choose Apple menu  > System Preferences, then click Sharing.
  2. From the list of services on the left, select File Sharing.
  3. From the Shared Folders list on the right, click the add button (+), then choose a folder to use for Time Machine backups.
  4. Control-click the folder that you added, then choose Advanced Options from the shortcuts menu that appears.
  5. From the Advanced Options dialog, select “Share as a Time Machine backup destination.”

When setting up Time Machine on your other Mac computers, you should now be able to select the shared folder as a backup disk.

External drive connected to an AirPort Extreme Base Station (802.11ac) or AirPort Time Capsule

Time Machine can back up to an external USB drive connected to an AirPort Extreme Base Station (802.11ac model) or AirPort Time Capsule.

  1. Connect the drive directly to your Mac, then use Disk Utility to erase it.
  2. Connect the drive to a USB port on your AirPort base station, then turn it on.
  3. Open AirPort Utility, then select your base station and click Edit to view its settings.
  4. Click the Disks tab in the settings window.
  5. Select your backup disk from the list of partitions, then select “Enable file sharing”:
  6. If more than one user on your network will back up to this disk with Time Machine, you can use the Secure Shared Disks pop-up menu to make sure that they can view only their own backups, not yours. Choose “With accounts” from the menu, then click the add button (+) to add users.
  7. Click Update to restart your base station and apply the settings.

AirPort Time Capsule

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Time Machine can back up to the built-in hard disk of an AirPort Time Capsule on your network.

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Best Wifi Backup Drive For Mac Hard Drive

  • Time Machine can't back up to a disk formatted for Windows, or to an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch.