How To Perform Manual Backup On Mac

Jun 05, 2018  How to Manually Back up Your iPhone to iCloud. This wikiHow teaches you how to manually back up iPhone data, such as photos or notes, to your iCloud account. Open Settings. It's the gray app that contains an image of gears (⚙️) and is typ. 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.

Technical Level : Intermediate
Summary

With every new revision of Windows comes the process of migrating to it. Many of you will be initiating a clean install instead of an in place upgrade. Before you do that though, you will need to ensure your data can move to the new version of Windows or that new device you will be buying. In this article, we take a look at backing up your files, specifically, we look at backing up manually. Recent versions of Windows include File History, which was introduced in Windows 8.0 in 2012 but based on my personal experience, it is not as thorough as Windows Easy Transfer which is no longer available or supported. A manual backup is also handy for migrating your personal files to a new PC or an important way to ensure your data is kept safe.


Details

What you need to start this project?

The first thing I recommend you do is invest in an external hard disk. I can't exhaust this enough; they are affordable and can store lots of data. You can probably get a 4TB drive for around $100.

USB External hard disk

Keep in mind, if you have a complex configuration, this article does not delve into the nuances of multiple partitions or drives with data scattered across them although the same rules can apply in regards to backup. If you do have folders for data such as documents, music, pictures and videos stored on other partitions or drives, then I would recommend you disconnect these data drives and upgrade only the system partition. You can always reattach your data drives after setup is complete.

Turn on Show Hidden Files & Folders

You want your backup to be as thorough as possible. Within your User folder is a hidden directory called AppData. This folder stores important settings for the apps you use, such as custom directionaries for Microsoft Word, passwords for apps like Chrome, Outlook data files and mail folders for apps like Windows Mail.

To turn on Hidden Files and folders, start by opening your user folder. Press Windows key + R then type: %userprofile% then hit Enter on your keyboard.

Enabling Show hidden files and Folders

Windows 8/8.1/10 - Click the View tab then click Options then click the View tab. Under Advanced settings > Hidden files and folders select the radio box Show hidden files and folders.

Windows Vista/7 - Click Organize > Search and Folder Options
Windows XP - Click Tools > Folder Options

AppData folder is now visible.

After completing the above steps, you should now see the AppData folder appear in your user folder.

Next step is to simply select all the folder. You can do this by pressing Ctrl + A or

Click Organize > Select All (Windows 7),
Click Home tab > Select All (Windows 8/8.1/10),
Edit > Select All (Windows XP).

Selected folders

Open your External hard disk then create a new folder and call it backup or a unique name. Open it then press Ctrl + V or

Click Organize > Paste (Windows 7),
Click Home tab > Paste (Windows 8/8.1/10),
Click Edit > Paste (Windows XP).

Depending on the amount of data, this can take a while.

If you have multiple accounts

If you have more than one account on your computer, log into each account and repeat the same steps. Make sure a unique folder is created for each account you backup manually.

Remember other folders you might have

If you store data in folders such as Public, remember to look in there too. The Public folder is located in C:UsersPublic

In Windows XP it is called Shared Documents located under C:Documents and Settings

NOTE: Some apps will keep their own data stores within their application folders, so make sure you browse and copy those over if necessary. Some users have a tendency to store files at the root of the hard disk, normally where the operating system is installed (Local Disk c:). Also check there for any important files and move them to Documents folder.

Restoration

Once your backup is complete and you have your new computer setup and Windows is installed and running, the next step is to copy over your files and folders from the external hard disk. You can do this two ways, you can individually copy the contents of each folder into the respective folder on the new computer from the external drive. Here is what you can easily do.

Connect and turn on your external hard disk.

Best backup system for mac

Browse the backup folder with your backed up folders.

Press Ctrl + A or Click Organize > Select All (Windows 7), Home tab > Select All (Windows 8/8.1/10), Edit > Select All (Windows XP).

Open your User folder on the computer

Press Windows key + R then type: %userprofile% then hit Enter on your keyboard.

Press Ctrl + V or Click Organize > Paste (Windows 7), Home tab > Paste (Windows 8/8.1/10), Edit > Paste (Windows XP).

How To Do A Manual Icloud Backup On Macbook Pro

You will be prompted if you want to replace the folders, click Yes.

Depending on the amount of data, this can take a while.

If you have other accounts, make sure the respective accounts have been created and logged into then repeat the same steps.

Resources:

In this article, we will cover the different ways you can back up a Mac, including locally, using Time Machine and with an external hard drive. We will also go over what to do before backing a Mac up.

How to prepare your Mac for a backup

Hard drives have finite space and that space can run out quickly if you’re continually backing up items that you don’t need.

To ensure that your hard drive has enough room for all of the important stuff, you should use CleanMyMac X routinely to detect and instantly remove system files and folders hogging up space.

Backup Mac Os

CleanMyMac X’s Smart Scan feature scans everything on your Mac, including Mac System, Large & Old Files, Photos and iPhoto Libraries, Mail Application, iTunes Library, and Trash Bins to find the things that are safe to get rid off. And using it couldn’t be easier.

1. Download CleanMyMac X (for free).
2. Launch the app and select Smart Cleanup.
3. Hit Scan and wait while CleanMyMac readies items for cleaning.
4. Hit Clean and watch in awe as your hard drive suddenly gains free space that you never thought was possible.

How to back up your Mac locally

A local backup is the fastest way to backup your data. It involves moving your files over to an external hard drive. HDDs and SSDs have dropped greatly in price in recent years so you should be able to pick one up relatively cheaply with a decent capacity. Local backup is a safe and reliable way to safeguard all of your important files and it’s really easy to do.

How to back up your Mac computer to an external hard drive

Most external hard drives don’t come pre-formatted for Mac, so this is a job you’ll need to do before transferring your files. If you’re using an older hard drive that already has data stored on it, formatting will erase it, so you might want to transfer any files over to a different device before hooking the hard drive up to your Mac.

You can format a hard drive using Mac’s Disk Utility feature.

1. Connect the hard drive to your Mac.

2. Go to Applications > Utilities and launch Disk Utility.

3. Select the hard drive that you want to reformat from the Disk Utility.

4. Click Erase and confirm.

5. Rename the hard drive (e.g. “Mac backup”).

6. Choose a new volume format from the following options:

  • macOS Extended (Journaled)
  • macOS Extended (Journaled, Encrypted)
  • macOS Extended (Case-sensitive, Journaled)
  • macOS Extended (Case-sensitive, Journaled, Encrypted)
  • MS-DOS (FAT): For Windows volumes that are 32 GB or less
  • ExFAT: For Windows volumes that are over 32 GB

If you’re unsure of which option to choose, go for Extended (Case-sensitive, Journaled, Encrypted). This keeps your data organized and encrypted, and differentiates folders with upper and lower case letters.

7. Go to Security Options and check that the drive is set to overwrite past data at least three times.

8. Click Erase and confirm.

How to back up your Mac using the Time Machine

Mac’s built-in Time Machine feature is the easiest way to perform local backups. If you’re using an iMac, you can keep your hard drive connected to your computer and set Time Machine to perform scheduled automated backups. Of course, this isn’t always practical for MacBook users who often work on the go.

  1. Go to System Preferences > Time Machine and make sure it’s turned on.
  2. Under Select Backup Disk choose your hard drive.
  3. Click on Options to check that the settings are configured to backup everything you want to save.

Time Machine will begin performing automatic backups, allowing you to retrieve any data from the moment the process started.

How to back up your Mac files manually

If you only want to backup certain files, you can do this manually using drag-and-drop.

  1. Open the Finder and select your hard drive.
  2. Open the window that includes the folders that you want to move.
  3. Drag-and-drop the folders into the hard drive window.

Cloning your Mac backup hard drive

Cloning lets you create a bootable copy of your hard drive for an extra layer of protection that you can fall back on if ever your Mac is out of action.

You can clone your hard drive using a tool such as SuperDuper! Or Carbon Copy Cloner.

How to back up your Mac with iCloud

Local backups are quick and easy but, like your Mac, physical hard drives are susceptible to failure and catastrophes like flood, fire, or burglary. Storing data in the cloud removes these risks and it too is very straightforward, particularly in the case of iCloud.

Once iCloud is up and running you no longer have to worry about losing any of your photos, music, mail, contacts, calendars, reminders, notes, or Safari data. iCloud gives you 5GB of free storage to get you started, with options to upgrade to as much as 2TB of storage space.

Before setting up iCloud to automatically backup your data, make sure you’re running the latest version of Mac. You can find this out by choosing Software Update from the Apple menu and checking if an update is available.

  1. Go to System Preferences and click iCloud.
  2. Enter your Apple ID and select the service you’d like to store in the cloud.
  3. Click on the Option button next to Photos and select the iCloud Photo Library, My Photo Stream, and iCloud Photo Sharing.
  4. Open iTunes and select Preferences. Choose Downloads and select Music, TV Programmes, Films, and Apps.

How To Perform Manual Backup On Mac Laptop

Save Mac data with live cloud backups

Daily backups are great, but what happens if you’re in the middle of an important assignment and your Mac suddenly crashes? You lose everything you’ve been working on for the past hour.

To prevent this, it’s worth knowing how to backup your MacBook Pro or iMac using live backups. Live backups save everything you’re working on as you go in the same way that iCloud instantly saves your photos to the cloud.

There are dozens of tools out there to help you backup and sync data in real-time, but the big players are the best: Dropbox, Microsoft OneDrive, Google Drive, and Amazon AWS.

How To Perform Manual Backup On Mac Windows 10

Don’t risk losing your important files

Restore From Backup Mac

Backup your Mac now! Don’t put it off. System failure can happen at any time and for any number of reasons. We really don’t want it to happen to you. Use a combination of local and cloud backups so that you’re protected against every eventuality, and make the most of a tool like CleanMyMac X to ensure your hard drives never run out of space.

CleanMyMac X is the easiest way to rid your Mac of system junk, ensuring your hard drives always have space for the things that are important. Download it for free today.

These might also interest you: