Can Two Macs Use The Same Drive For Time Machine?

by | Last updated on January 24, 2024

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What is less well known is that you can use a single Time Machine backup drive with

multiple

Macs. If you have a large disk, you can partition it and use part of it for regular data and part of it for a Time Machine backup. You also can use your Mac with more than one Time Machine backup drive.

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Can more than one Mac use the same Time Machine drive?

What is less well known is that you can use a single Time Machine backup drive with

multiple

Macs. If you have a large disk, you can partition it and use part of it for regular data and part of it for a Time Machine backup. You also can use your Mac with more than one Time Machine backup drive.

Can you have two Time Machine backups on one external drive?

If you make two different partitions in the external HD, you can easily have the

two different Time Machine backup

in the each partition. You only need to specify the partition to use for the MacBook during the initial Time Machine setup.

Can you backup multiple Macs to time capsule?

The easiest (though perhaps not least expensive) way to back up multiple Macs is to

buy a Time Capsule

, Apple’s recently announced network backup appliance. Time Capsule combines the features of an AirPort Extreme base station and a large (500GB or 1TB) hard drive that’s preconfigured for use with Time Machine.

Will Time Machine backup everything on my Mac?

By default,

Time Machine backs up everything on your Mac

, and all external drives connected to it (but not network drives mounted on the Mac). You can choose to which items get backed up to Time Machine. Click Options, then click the + button to navigate to folders that you want Time Machine to exclude from backups.

Can Time Machine share an external hard drive?

Technically, there’s

no

need to partition your hard drive if you want to use it for external storage as well as Time Machine backups. All you need to do is start copying files and folders onto the drive using Finder.

How do I backup Time Machine to another computer?

In order to access this feature, users should attach the Time Machine drive to the second computer, and then hold the options key and select the Time Machine menu from the system menu. There should be the option to

“Browse Other Time Machine Disks

“, which should bring up a list of available Time Machine backup volumes.

How do I sync two Macs?

Syncing files between two Macs is, thankfully, fairly simple. One way is to

use iCloud

. Providing both devices – whether a macOS MacBook or an iPhone or iPad – are logged into the same Apple ID, a file that you’ve saved on one will save exactly the same on another.

Will Time Machine erase my hard drive?


No it will not erase your existing files

. Time machine will create a folder on your external hard drive called Backups.

Can I put my Mac to sleep while Time Machine is running?

If your Mac

supports Power Nap

it can perform Time Machine backups while it’s asleep or the lid is shut. It just needs to be plugged into the mains. You can find Power Nap in System Preferences > Energy Saver. Choose Enable Power Nap while plugged into a power adaptor if it’s not already selected under Power Adapter.

Is Time Machine the best way to backup a Mac?

Best way to back up a Mac

Well, the simplest and cheapest solution is probably to back up using Time Machine,

Apple’s free backup software

. The only associated cost would be purchasing an external drive but since you can purchase 1TB storage for less than £40 these days, it shouldn’t break the bank.

How do I use Time Machine as an external hard drive?

  1. Connect an external storage device, such as a USB or Thunderbolt drive. Learn more about backup disks that you can use with Time Machine.
  2. Open Time Machine preferences from the Time Machine menu in the menu bar. …
  3. Click Select Backup Disk.
  4. Select the name of your disk, then click Use Disk.

Is Mac Time Machine Any Good?

Time Machine

is the go-to backup solution for most Apple

fans, but the cloud offers just too many benefits to recommend this prepackaged, hardware-based program. For many macOS users, Apple’s native backup software, Time Machine, is the first and last line of hard-drive failure defense.

How much storage is needed for Time Machine?

A general “rule of thumb” is, to keep a reasonable “depth” of backups, Time Machine needs

2 to 4 times as much space as the data it’s backing-up

(not necessarily the entire size of your internal HD). Be sure to add the size of the data on any other drives/partitions you want to back up.

What happens to old Mac after Migration Assistant?

What Happens To My Old Mac After Using Migration Assistant?

Nothing

. It’s just the same. Apple’s Migration Assistant makes no changes to your old Mac.

What cable do I need to transfer from Mac to Mac?

Connect the

Thunderbolt, FireWire, or Ethernet cable

from your old Mac to your new Mac. If you are using local Wi-Fi, make sure both Macs are connected to the same Wi-Fi network.

How long should a Mac backup take?

Preparing backup shouldn’t take

more than 5 or 10 minutes

if your Mac is new and you barely have anything on it.

How do I partition my Mac without losing data?

You can

use Disk Utility

to add a new partition to an existing volume without losing any data. When adding a new partition, Disk Utility splits the selected disk in half, leaving all the existing data on the original disk but reducing its size by 50 percent.

Can you backup your Mac without an external hard drive?


Local Snapshots

allows you to use the helpful Time Machine backup feature without an external hard drive and instead makes a local snapshot of all file changes. Your Mac will take these local snapshots every hour and store them on your Mac’s internal hard disk.

Can I use the same Apple ID on two Macs?

If you’re just installing and updating the OS,

there’s no real limit to how many Macs you can use the same Apple ID for

. In fact, the Apple ID is needed only for downloading the OS installer app.

Do you want to erase Backup Plus so it can be used for Time Machine?

Erasing will destroy all information on the disk and can’t be undone.

The disk must be erased before it can be used

for Time Machine backups because it has an incompatible file system. … Or, you may simply click on “Erase” to reformat the drive and start using it with Time Machine.

What files does Time Machine not backup?

The rule seems to be that Time Machine does back up the contents of your current iCloud Drive, but only those items which are currently stored locally.

Any items which have been evicted to iCloud

, and are only represented by local stub files, aren’t backed up.

How do I keep my Mac awake during backup?

  1. Click on Energy Saver. …
  2. Toggle between the Battery and Power Adapter settings and slide the “Turn display off after” bar to your desired setting. …
  3. Select “Put hard disks to sleep when possible.”

What happens if Time Machine backup is interrupted?

If it’s a Time Machine backup, no,

you don’t lose your progress

if the backup is interrupted. The backup will continue from where it left off. The partial backup is kept in an . inProgress file.

Does Time Machine work when logged out?

Time Machine is a system-level daemon, not a user-level process.

Time Machine will work even if you are not logged into your Mac

.

What is Apple Time Machine used for?

When Time Machine is turned on, it

automatically backs up your Mac and performs hourly, daily, and weekly backups of your files

. When you use Time Machine, Time Machine also saves local snapshots you can use to recover previous versions of files, even if your backup disk is not attached.

Can I backup my Mac without using Time Machine?

You can manually back up Mac data to an

external hard drive

without Time Machine. Just plug in the external hard drive to your Mac to get started and back up your data. Click Finder> Preferences and examine the Hard Disks in Show these items on the desktop.

How do I backup my Mac to an external hard drive with Disk Utility?

  1. Open Disk Utility.
  2. From the device list, select the destination drive.
  3. Click First Aid in the top of the app. Then choose Run.

Can Time Machine backup to Dropbox?

Most people don’t realize that Time Machine backs up their Dropbox folder by default. This is either a nice secondary backup of key information, or a waste of precious hard drive space for files that are already being duplicated to the Dropbox Web site.

Can Apple Time Machine backup to iCloud?

While iCloud Drive lets you upload documents to Apple’s servers for online access. But no matter how much iCloud storage you have, you can’t tell Time Machine to back up your Mac to iCloud Drive. In fact, unlike on iPhone or iPad,

Apple offers no official way to back up your Mac to iCloud

.

What is the point of Time Machine?

A time machine is a

device which brings about closed timelike curves

—and thus enables time travel—where none would have existed otherwise.

How do I transfer everything from my Mac to an external hard drive?

  1. Connect an external hard drive to the computer using the USB cable and wait for the icon for that drive to appear on the Desktop. …
  2. Click “Finder” on the Desktop to launch a new Finder window, and then locate the files to transfer to the external hard drive.
Rachel Ostrander
Author
Rachel Ostrander
Rachel is a career coach and HR consultant with over 5 years of experience working with job seekers and employers. She holds a degree in human resources management and has worked with leading companies such as Google and Amazon. Rachel is passionate about helping people find fulfilling careers and providing practical advice for navigating the job market.