Time Machine backs up your Mac automatically. But how do you restore something? There are two ways: get back a single file or folder you deleted or overwrote by accident, or restore your whole MacBook, for example onto a new Mac or after a repair. This article explains both step by step.
Blue Apple repairs MacBooks in Amsterdam. After a major repair, such as a new logic board, a Time Machine backup is the fastest way to get your old setup back.
First: is there a backup?
Open System Settings, General, Time Machine. There you see which drive you use and when the last backup was. Connect the backup drive before you start. If you have no backup yet, first read backing up your MacBook.
Getting back one file or folder
- In the Finder open the folder where the file was, for example Documents.
- Open Time Machine via Spotlight (Command + Space bar, type "time machine") or via the Time Machine icon in the menu bar and choose Browse Time Machine Backups.
- You see a stack of windows: each window is a moment in the past. Use the timeline on the right or the arrows to go back to a moment when the file still existed.
- Select the file. Press the space bar for a preview.
- Click Restore. The file returns to its old place.
If a file with the same name already exists, the Mac asks whether to keep both or replace the old one.
An earlier version of a document
If you do not want a deleted file back but an older version of a document you changed, open the document and choose the option in the File menu to revert to an earlier version. In apps like Pages, Numbers and TextEdit this also works without Time Machine, because they keep versions themselves.
Restoring your whole MacBook onto another Mac
For a new Mac, or a Mac whose storage was replaced, use Migration Assistant. During setup or later in Migration Assistant choose to transfer from a Time Machine backup, choose the drive and the backup, and choose what to transfer. See moving with Migration Assistant.
Returning your whole Mac to an earlier moment
If you want to return your Mac to how it was at a certain moment, for example before a failed update:
- Start up in Recovery mode. See opening Recovery mode.
- Choose Restore from Time Machine.
- Choose your backup drive and the moment you want to go back to.
- Choose the drive to restore the backup to and follow the steps.
Note: anything you created after that moment is then no longer on the Mac. Copy recent files to another drive first.
It does not work
- The backup drive is not found: try another cable or port, and look in Disk Utility. See external drive not showing.
- The file is not in the backup: perhaps the drive was not connected while the file existed, or that folder was excluded in the Time Machine settings.
- Encrypted backup: you need the backup's password. Without it the backup cannot be opened.
What Time Machine cannot reach
Files in iCloud Drive that are not stored on your Mac are not always included by Time Machine. For iCloud files, check Data Recovery or Recently Deleted on icloud.com. Photos in iCloud Photos are in the Recently Deleted album.
What we do at Blue Apple in Amsterdam
After a repair we help you restore your backup. If your backup drive itself is broken, or your Mac no longer starts and there is no backup, we look at what can still be saved. More on our pages about MacBook data recovery and MacBook repair in Amsterdam.
Frequently asked questions
How far back can I go with Time Machine?
As far as there is space on the backup drive. Time Machine keeps hourly backups for a day, daily ones for a month and weekly ones after that, until the drive is full.
Can I use a Time Machine backup from another Mac?
Yes, with Migration Assistant or by opening the files in the backup in the Finder.
Does restoring erase my current files?
Getting back one file does not. Restoring the whole Mac does: then everything is replaced by the backup.
