Apple let youuse Time Machine to make a backupfrom your Mac of all the data filing cabinet , apps , and other poppycock that ’s not part of the macOS system installment . ( Before macOS 11 Big Sur , you could back up system files , too , but now you reinstall the system . ) It ’s pliant enough to let you attach multiple intensity that Time Machine alternates using as target for backups . you’re able to also have a readiness of loudness that you trade between your Mac and offsite computer storage , trading them out as often as you need backups elsewhere to stay up to date .
Each sentence you mount a Time Machine volume associated with your Mac , it ’s added to a round - robin cycle . The next time its turn comes up , the Time Machine algorithm brings it up to date compared to the former substitute stored on that volume . If you keep multiple volume attached , you will have some interim reading of files stored on one Time Machine drive and not another , even though there ’s always at least one version stored for each cycle through the full set of drives .
What bump when you want to browse for files to restore across all book you ’re using and have used for backup or limit browsing to a specific volume ? Or when you do n’t have access to the calculator from which the backups were made ?
In macOS 12 Monterey and early versions , clicking the Time Machine icon reveals the menu itemEnter Time Machine . By default , that displays backup snapshots from all presently mounted Time Machine volume for your Mac . In macOS 13 Ventura , the label change to the more descriptive “ Browse Time Machine accompaniment . ”
If you ’d like to recover files from a specific backup , however , you may contain down choice while clicking the Time Machine menu and chooseBrowse Other Backups . ( This option has n’t changed since just after the first rendering of macOS with Time Machine . ) You ’ll see a dialog present useable volumes . Choose one and clickUse Selected Disk . As you shop for file and through snapshots , you ’ll see only those interpretation available on that ride .
Using that computer menu option , you could also select volumes created on or for other Macs , including disk images you ’ve double - clicked on to climb from a networked Time Machine volume . you may browse and select files for restoring through that volume by select it , but it ’s essentially the same as navigating the volume in the Finder .
For networked Time Machine backups , mount the disk image and then cypher out which shot you ’re looking for . you may then dive into that snapshot to imitate files . See “ How to find a Time Machine computer backup for an offline volumefor more details .
This Mac 911 article is in response to a question submitted by Macworld reader Lynn .
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