This guide will describe the process for configuring Time Machine on your Mac. It will also show you how to check to see if Time Machine is properly backing up and when the last completed backup occurred.
Requires an external harddrive
1. Plug in your external harddrive
Make sure you have an external hard drive dedicated only to backing up your computer. (All Dana Employees with Macs were issued one when they received their Mac.)
2. Automatic Setup
2.1 Select this drive to ‘Use as Backup Disk’
- If this is the first time plugging in this hard drive you should see a pop-up message asking if you would like to use that drive as your backup disk.
- If you do not see this message, ‘Don’t Use’ was selected at an earlier date. The steps in section 3 (below) will explain how to configure it manually.
- ‘Encrypt Backup Disk’ will password protect the data. BE CAREFUL. If you forget the password your backup will become unrecoverable.
2.2 Verify Time Machine setup
- Make sure the TimeMachine switch is set to ON
- Verify that there is a hard drive selected
- If you select ‘Use as Backup Disk’ in section 1.2 this should be completed
- If no drive is listed proceed to the next section
- Turn on the menu bar shortcut for easy access in the future
3. Manual Setup
3.1 Open System Preferences
Click the Apple logo in the top left corner of your screen and select System Preferences.
3.2 Select Time Machine from System Preferences
3.3 Enable Time Machine
- Make sure the TimeMachine switch is set to ON
- Verify that there is a hard drive selected
- If no drive is listed proceed to the next section
- Turn on the menu bar shortcut for easy access in the future
3.4 Select your drive
- Select the name of the hard drive that you have plugged in
- Select ‘Use Disk’
‘Encrypt Backup Disk’ will password protect the data. BE CAREFUL. If you forget the password your backup will become unrecoverable.
4. Check Backup Status
4.1 View status from the menu bar
If you selected ‘Show Time Machine in menu bar’ you should see a clock with a counterclockwise arrow, which will allow you to start a backup or check last backup.
- If Time Machine has completed a backup it will say Latest Back to “<insert name of your drive here>”: with the time and date of the backup
- You can also:
- Run a manual backup
- View already backed up versions of files wtih Enter Time Machine
- Modify your Time Machine Preferences
4.2 View status from Time Machine
If you navigate back to Time Machine preferences you will see a little more information about the status.
You should see storage used, oldest backup, most recent (latest) and the next time it will backup.
