Back Up and Restore Your Mac Without Time Machine

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Quickly and easily create reliable backups with these workarounds
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The easiest way to back up your Mac is with the built-in Time Machine utility. But if you’d rather not use Time Machine, don’t worry—there are several other options. Depending on your needs, you can save your most important data to iCloud, transfer your whole system to another Mac, or even create a bootable clone of Macintosh HD on an external device. We’ll talk you through all the best methods, from beginner-friendly to advanced, with advice from computer repair technician Chiara Corsaro.

How do you back up a Mac without using Time Machine?

  • You can easily back up your files and apps online with iCloud or a third-party cloud service.
  • Install third-party backup software to back up your Mac to an external drive.
  • Back up your data directly to another Mac using Migration Assistant.
  • Create a bootable clone of your main system disk with the asr restore command in Terminal.
Method 1
Method 1 of 4:

Using iCloud

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  1. 1
    Open System Settings. With Apple’s iCloud service, you can back up your data so that you can easily restore it if something goes wrong with your Mac. [1] To set up iCloud backups, click the
    Mac Apple
    Apple menu icon in the top left corner of your screen, then select System Settings . [2]
    • While this method won’t clone your entire hard drive, it’s a great option for most users who simply want to keep their files, apps, and other personal data (e.g., passwords and contacts) backed up.
    EXPERT TIP

    Chiara Corsaro

    Phone & Computer Repair Technician
    Chiara Corsaro is the General Manager and Apple Certified Mac & iOS Technician for macVolks, Inc., an Apple Authorized Service Provider located in the San Francisco Bay Area. macVolks, Inc. was founded in 1990, is accredited by the Better Business Bureau (BBB) with an A+ rating, and is part of the Apple Consultants Network (ACN).
    Chiara Corsaro
    Phone & Computer Repair Technician

    iCloud is a great way to keep your files safe, even if you have a physical backup. Physical backup drives can fail, so it's always a good idea to keep a second backup in the cloud. iCloud is ideal for storing additional copies of your most important files in case something goes wrong.

  2. 2
    Click your name. You’ll see it at the top of the left-hand menu bar.
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  3. 3
    Click iCloud . You’ll see this in the list of options in the right-hand side of the window.
    • You may be prompted to sign in with your Apple Account.
    • If you don’t have a paid iCloud subscription, you may not have enough storage space on iCloud for this method. To buy iCloud+, scroll down in the iCloud menu and click Upgrade to iCloud+ .
      • If you’re already a subscriber but need more storage, click Manage… next to your storage information at the top of the window, then select Change Storage Plan… . You can also click the Manage Plan button under the iCloud+ Features header to see your options.
  4. 4
    Select Drive . This is one of the icons located under the Saved to iCloud header.
  5. 5
    Toggle on Sync this Mac . This will enable iCloud Drive to back up files and folders on your Mac so you can access them from any other device logged into the same Apple Account.
    • To keep your desktop and Documents folders synced, toggle on the switch next to Desktop & Documents Folders .
    • If you like, you can also toggle on Optimize Mac Storage . This setting allows older documents on your Mac to be stored exclusively in the iCloud Drive in order to free up space on your Mac.
  6. 6
    Sync your apps with iCloud. If you want to save your app data, you can do so from the main iCloud menu. Next to the Saved to iCloud header, click See All . Go through the list of apps and either click on them to see more options, or toggle the switches next to them on or off to set which apps sync with iCloud.
  7. 7
    Sign into iCloud to restore your data. If you want to retrieve your data on another device (or on your Mac after resetting it ), just log into the same Apple Account you used to set up your iCloud backup. You’ll instantly have access to all the files and apps you synced to iCloud.
    • You can also access and download your files from iCloud.com.
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Method 2
Method 2 of 4:

Using Third-Party Backup Software

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  1. 1
    Find a backup utility that meets your needs. There is a wide range of backup apps and services available, so the right option depends on exactly what you want to do. [3] You can download a backup app from the App Store, get it directly from the developer’s website, or subscribe to a cloud-based service that backs up your data online.
    • Apps like ChronoSync Express and Sync Folders Pro are designed to help you easily back up your files to an external storage device. Some claim to be able to create a bootable clone of your hard drive.
    • Cloud-based options like OneDrive and Dropbox store your files and folders online, much like iCloud.
    • Some apps are specialized for backing up certain types of data, like your photos or contacts.
  2. 2
    Follow the instructions for your chosen software. All of these apps and services work a little differently. You may need to create an account to use the service you choose. Select the right sync or backup settings for the data you want to back up.
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Method 3
Method 3 of 4:

Using Migration Assistant

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  1. 1
    Use this method to back up your system to another Mac. Migration Assistant is a built-in utility that makes it easy to transfer your data from one Mac to another. You can use this method even if you’ve already set up your new Mac. [4]
  2. 2
    Make sure both Macs are up to date . This works best if both machines are running the latest supported version of macOS. Go to
    Mac Apple
    Apple menu > System Settings > General > Software Update to install any available updates.
    • In addition to updating your Macs, make sure they’re both connected to Wi-Fi. You’ll also need to turn off any antivirus software, firewalls, or VPNs on both Macs until the process is complete.
  3. 3
    Open Migration Assistant on your new Mac. If you’re still setting up your new Mac, this option will come up as part of the setup process. You can get there faster by skipping the initial setup assistant.
    • If you’ve already set up your Mac, go to Applications > Utilities > Migration Assistant . You may be prompted to log in with your administrator password to continue.
  4. 4
    Select From a Mac, Time Machine backup or Startup disk . You’ll be prompted to select a source for your data transfer. Click the radio button next to the option that says “From a Mac, Time Machine backup or Startup disk,” then click Continue .
  5. 5
    Open Migration Assistant on your old Mac. On the Mac you’re backing up, launch Migration Assistant from your Utilities folder. Click Continue .
  6. 6
    Select To another Mac . Click the radio button next to this option, then click Continue .
  7. 7
    Select your Mac on the new computer. In Migration Assistant on your new Mac, you should see an icon of the old Mac that you’re backing up. Click on it to select it, then click Continue .
  8. 8
    Check for a security code on your old Mac. Make sure it’s the same as the code you see on the new Mac, then click Continue .
  9. 9
    Select which data you want to transfer. On your new Mac, you’ll see a breakdown of the information you can transfer, including how much space each category will take up on your new computer. Check the boxes next to anything you want to transfer (such as your apps, files and folders, or user accounts), then click Continue .
    • If you transfer any user accounts, you’ll be asked to set a new password for each one. You’ll also be given the option to replace or keep duplicate accounts.
  10. 10
    Wait for the transfer to complete. If you’re moving a lot of data, it might take several hours for Migration Assistant to finish backing up your old Mac to your new one. Once the process is finished, quit Migration Assistant on both computers. You should now be able to log into the transferred account on your new computer and access all the data you transferred.
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Method 4
Method 4 of 4:

Cloning with ASR (Advanced)

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  1. 1
    Set full disk access for Terminal. This method allows you to create a bootable clone of your Mac’s system and install it on another Mac. The second Mac must have macOS installed already, and both Macs must have the same kind of processor (e.g., both Intel or both Apple silicon) for this to work. To get started, you’ll need to allow Terminal to have full disk access on the Mac you’re cloning. [5] Here’s how:
    • Open
      Mac Apple
      Apple menu > System Settings > Privacy & Security > Full Disk Access .
    • Toggle on the switch next to Terminal.
      • If you don’t see Terminal on the list of apps and utilities, click the + button, go to Applications > Utilities , and select Terminal .
  2. 2
    Format your destination disk (if necessary). If you’re creating the clone on an external disk, you may need to format it first. To do so:
    • Eject any other disks that are currently connected to your Mac, then disconnect them.
    • Connect the disk where you plan to save the clone.
    • Go to Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility .
    • Click View > Show All Devices .
    • Make sure the top level of your external destination disk is selected, then click Erase .
    • Set Name to Untitled . Select APFS for Format . For Scheme , select GUID Partition Map .
    • Click Erase again.
    • Quit Disk Utility once the process is finished.
  3. 3
    Open Terminal. With your destination disk still connected, launch the Terminal app. You can find it in Applications > Utilities .
  4. 4
    Enter the diskutil list command. Type in diskutil list , then tap Return . This will display a list of available disks and their unique identifiers.
  5. 5
    Find your system volume. To make a bootable clone of your Mac, you’ll typically want to use Macintosh HD as your source. This will likely be located on disk3, with the identifier disk3s1 .
  6. 6
    Locate your destination volume. This is the external disk you prepared. This will likely be located on disk4. You should see the “Untitled” volume you created when you formatted the disk.
  7. 7
    Make sure your destination disk has enough space. You can see the amount of space taken up by each volume in disk3. Add them up to get the total, then compare that to the amount of space available on your destination disk.
    • According to Corsaro, an external destination disk should ideally have about twice as much storage space as your Mac's hard drive. So, for example, if your Mac has a 1TB hard drive, use an external hard drive with 2TB available. [6]
  8. 8
    Boot up in Recovery Mode. This is necessary if you’re using macOS Big Sur or later. For older versions of macOS, you can skip this step and just open Terminal. The right way to boot up in Recovery Mode depends on whether you’re using an Intel or Apple silicon Mac.
    • Before you start, make sure either Find My Mac or FileVault is enabled. This will provide an extra layer of protection in case anything goes wrong during the cloning process.
    • Apple silicon: Press and hold the power button or Touch ID button for about 10 seconds while booting up your computer. Once the Startup Options menu appears, select Options , then click Continue .
    • Intel chip: Hold down Command-R while booting up your Mac. Let go of the keys once you see the
      Mac Apple
      Apple logo.
  9. 9
    Enter your administrator password. If you’re not prompted to enter a password, you may not have FileVault or Find My Mac enabled.
  10. 10
    Select Terminal from the Utilities menu. Once the utilities screen appears, select the Utilities menu from the top of the screen and click Terminal .
  11. 11
    Double-check your source and destination locations. Use the diskutil list command again to make sure your source and destination disk IDs haven’t changed.
  12. 12
    Unlock your Data volume if necessary. If FileVault is enabled, use the command diskutil apfs listvolumegroups followed by diskutil apfs unlock , plus the ID of the Data volume.
    • For example, if your Data volume has the identifier “disk3s5,” you’d enter the command diskutil apfs unlock disk3s5 .
  13. 13
    Run the diskutil mount command. This command will mount the System volume (typically Macintosh HD) for your source disk. Enter the command followed by the identifier of the System volume, then press Return .
    • For example, if your System volume is “disk3s1,” you’d enter the command diskutil mount disk3s1 .
  14. 14
    Run the diskutil apfs listsnapshots command. This will give you the UUID of the sealed snapshot you need to clone your system volume. Enter the command followed by the ID of your System volume (the same one you used in the previous step), then press Return .
    • In our example, this command would look like diskutil apfs listsnapshots disk3s1 .
  15. 15
    Copy the UUID of the sealed snapshot. This is the long string of letters and numbers separated by hyphens that appears directly above the name of your sealed snapshot.
  16. 16
    Use the asr restore command to create the clone. You’ll need to plug your source and destination IDs, plus the UUID, into the command. The basic command looks like this: asr restore --source /dev/sysvol --target /dev/yourTarget --toSnapshot sysSnap --no-personalization --erase
    • Replace “sysvol” with the ID of your source volume.
    • Replace “yourTarget” with the ID of your destination.
    • Replace “sysSnap” with the UUID.
    • So, for example, might end up with asr restore --source /dev/disk3s1--target /dev/disk4s1 --toSnapshot D3E0AF1F-8272-4121-AB7A-9418612CAA97 --no-personalization --erase
    • If your Mac has an Intel processor, exclude “--no-personalization”.
    • If you didn’t boot up in Recovery Mode, add “sudo” to the beginning of the command.
  17. 17
    Enter your administrator password. Once you hit Return and run the command, you’ll be prompted to enter your Mac’s administrator password. You won’t be able to see your password as you type it—don’t worry, that’s normal. Press Return again once you enter it.
  18. 18
    Confirm that you want to erase the destination volume. This command will erase anything that’s currently in your destination volume and replace it with the clone. To confirm that you want to do this, type y and press Return when prompted.
  19. 19
    Wait for the process to complete. You’ll see a couple of progress bars as the clone is being created. When it’s done, a message will appear that says “Restore completed successfully,”
  20. 20
    Rename the cloned volumes. By default, your cloned volumes will have the same names as the originals. Locate these volumes in your destination disk, then rename them in Disk Utility. To do this, simply click the name of the volume at the top of the main Disk Utility window to select it, then type in the new name.
    • For example, you might rename the cloned “Macintosh HD” on disk4 to something like “External Macintosh HD” or “Cloned Macintosh HD.”
    • Don’t rename the Preboot, Recovery, VM, or Update volumes. You won’t be able to see these volumes in Disk Utility.
  21. 21
    Reboot your Mac to exit Recovery Mode. If you’re not in Recovery Mode, skip this step.
  22. 22
    Open Startup Disk in System Settings. Go to
    Mac Apple
    Apple menu > System Settings > General > Startup Disk . You’ll need to change some settings here to make your new clone bootable.
  23. 23
    Select the clone and click Restart . You may have to enter your administrator password, then click Restart again to confirm.
    • If you’re using a Mac with an Apple silicon chip, you’ll get an error message stating that the volume you’ve selected has no authorized users. Click Authorize Users , then follow the prompts to give your cloned system access to your Owner Identity Key.
    • For Macs with a T2 Security Chip, you’ll need to make sure booting from external disks is allowed. You can do this in the Startup Security Utility .
    • For more detailed instructions on this method, along with troubleshooting tips and variants for earlier versions of macOS, check out this guide .
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Expert Q&A

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  • Question
    How do I back up my Mac immediately?
    Chiara Corsaro
    Phone & Computer Repair Technician
    Chiara Corsaro is the General Manager and Apple Certified Mac & iOS Technician for macVolks, Inc., an Apple Authorized Service Provider located in the San Francisco Bay Area. macVolks, Inc. was founded in 1990, is accredited by the Better Business Bureau (BBB) with an A+ rating, and is part of the Apple Consultants Network (ACN).
    Chiara Corsaro
    Phone & Computer Repair Technician
    Expert Answer
    Backing up with Time Machine is relatively simple and only requires that you have an external hard drive—you don't need a Time Capsule (or AirPort) hard drive from Apple to use Time Machine.
    Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
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    Not Helpful 1 Helpful 0
  • Question
    Will this remove the data that is already on the hard drive?
    Community Answer
    None of the above will remove the data that is already on the Mac's main, internal hard drive. However, Step 3 of Part 1 will remove the data that is already on the external hard drive.
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  • Question
    Can I use an external HDD with ExFat formatting?
    Community Answer
    Yes, you can. This is helpful if you want to use the same HDD with Mac and Windows both.
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      References

      1. ↑ https://support.apple.com/en-us/102307
      2. ↑ https://support.apple.com/en-us/118443
      3. ↑ https://support.apple.com/en-us/102307
      4. ↑ https://support.apple.com/en-us/102613
      5. ↑ https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-250005828
      6. ↑ Chiara Corsaro. Phone & Computer Repair Technician. Expert Interview. 18 Oct 2019.

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