With online storage services like iCloud or even Google Drive, some people assume that there’s no need for an external hard drive on your Mac. However, that’s not necessarily true. It’s always a good idea to have multiple forms of backup (local backup and remote backup) when possible.
If you’re looking to ensure you don’t experience the severe pain that is data loss, we’ve broken down the best way to back up your Mac and protect your information.
These methods also work for MacOS Big Sur.
Make sure your drive is properly formatted
If you are going to use an external hard drive or an external solid-state drive to back up your Mac data, then you should start by formatting it for the MacOS extended file system — besides a few exceptions, most external hard drives are not pre-formatted for Macs. Fortunately, it’s a simple process and can also teach you a bit more about your drive.
Step 1: Connect your new drive to your Mac.
A new drive is ideal here. If you use an older drive, things get more complicated if you’ve already got data stored on it. Re-formatting will erase any old data that you have on the drive, so you’ll want to double-check and move any valuable data over to another device before moving on.
Step 2: Launch Disk Utility.
In your Mac’s menu bar, click Go, then Utilities. In the resulting window, open Disk Utility.
Step 3: Find the drive you want to reformat.
All drives and volumes on your Mac will be listed in Disk Utility, so make sure you pick the right one.
Step 4: Erase the drive.
Choose to Erase in the Disk Utility window, confirm that’s what you want to do, and get ready to rename the drive — it’s a good idea to call it something like “Mac Backup” if you are using this drive primarily for backup data.
Step 5: Choose the new map scheme.
You will now be asked to pick new format, including Extended (Journaled), Extended (Case-sensitive, Journaled), Extended (Journaled, Encrypted), and so on. The Mac OS Extended (Journaled) format uses Journaled HFS Plus to keep all your data organized.
The Encrypted option adds a password and encryption, while Case-sensitive differentiates folders with upper/lowercase letters (“September” and “september” stay separated, etc.). Pick the best option for your situation — we recommend the fourth format, which includes all three capabilities if you aren’t sure what to do.
Step 6: Head over to Security Options.
Choose Security Options and make sure the drive is set to write over any past data at least three times (only for HDDs, not SSDs).
Step 7: Erase and confirm.
Your drive will be reformatted!
Back up large amounts of data via Time Machine
Time Machine allows you to back up your Mac with automated, scheduled backups. If you don’t mind having your external drive connected to your Mac continually, Time Machine takes a lot of work out of the backup process. Here’s what to do to activate it:
Step 1: Open Time Machine and make sure it is turned on.
You can find Time Machine in System Preferences, which is located in your Dock. There’s a checkbox on the left side of the Time Machine window labeled “Back Up Automatically” — tick this to turn on Time Machine.
Step 2: Select your drive.
Under Select Disk, choose the drive for backing up your data. If you completed the formatting steps under the first section, this shouldn’t be a problem, although you may have to enter the password for an encrypted drive.
Step 3: Check Options.
Under the Options button, you can choose which volumes of data you want to back up, which is handy if you don’t want to save all the data you keep on MacOS. If everything looks appropriate, then you are good to go.
Time Machine will automatically start backing up your data and allowing you to retrieve past data from 24 hours ago if something goes wrong — as well as data from any day in the past month and any weekly data since Time Machine started working. For a more detailed guide on Time Machine, check out our in-depth how-to guide.
Selectively store data on a drive manually
Maybe you only want to back up your Mac with specific files — a more fitting solution if you are interested in saving a particular type of media, or backing up only data related to your job, etc.
Step 1: Open Finder.
You can open a Finder window anytime from the Dock. Check the left side of your Finder window to see if your external hard drive is present, by name, in the sidebar. Typically, if your drive is connected and properly formatted, you will see it here. If not, click Finder then Preferences in the menu bar and select Sidebar, where you can choose to customize what appears in the Finder sidebar. Make sure your drive is set to appear there.
Step 2: Create any necessary folders.
The files you want to back up may already be in the proper folders, nicely organized, in which case you can skip this step. But if your files are a little scattered, you may want to head up to the folder icon in Finder and create new folders to gather your valuable data properly.
Step 3: Move folders into your external drive.
Drag and drop the folders you want to save to the external drive in your sidebar; they will be automatically copied over to that hard drive. If you are looking for a particular file to keep and can’t find it, use the search function in the upper right portion of the Finder screen to take a closer look.
Third-party backup solutions
There is one other option for backing up your data: Third-party backup solutions such as Carbonite or CrashPlan. Both companies offer inexpensive and easy-to-configure backup services for Mac and Windows. No matter which company you decide to go with, once you sign up, you will be required to download and install the respective backup app, which will then allow you to start the initial backup procedure. All data backed up to either Carbonite or CrashPlan is securely hosted on their servers and can be restored whenever such a situation might arise.
Another thing worth mentioning is that your initial backup will take a while, depending on just how much you back up. It takes so much longer because your ISP’s upload speeds ultimately limit your computer. It’s not uncommon for the initial backup to take several days if you have several hundred gigabytes (or even terabytes) of data.
However, these services use incremental backup technologies similar to those of the Apple Time Machine once your initial backup is complete. That means that they only upload changes you make going forward, so the backup servers will have the most current versions of everything. It is advisable to save changes in increments instead of saving large amounts of data to streamline the backup process on your Mac.
Carbonite prices start at about $6 per month, and it comes with 128-bit encryption, automatic cloud backups, and remote access to your files. This also gives you access to customer support, which is available 24/7. You even get an extra external hard drive that you can have loaded and ready to use for backup.
CrashPlan starts at about $10 per month, and you get features like external hard drive protection, desktop app restoration, a dedicated support team, and 256-bit encryption. The $10 per month plan only backs up one computer, so you’ll have to pay that fee for each computer you want to back up.
Both services offer unlimited storage for your backups. They also both offer a 30-day trial period, so you can check out all it has to offer before you commit.
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