How to Schedule an Automatic File Backup in a Mac

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Automating your file backups means you never have to worry about losing your important data if you have a system crash. Keep reading to learn how easy it is to use Automator to create an automatic backup!

Notes for New Mac Users

  • You should know the difference when I refer to “key” as keys on your keyboard, and “button” as commands on screen.
  • You should be familiar with your keyboard. A simple test would be, “where is the Cmd button?”
  • You need a Mac OS X higher than 10.4. ① Click on the apple icon  on upper-left of the menu bar, and then ② choose About The Mac; you will ③ see the version information on the pop-up window.

Steps

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    ① Click iCal Alarm on the pop-up menu, and ② choose.
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    Then, click Add (Repeat this process to add additional files or folders.)
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    )
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    , and ② choose Other. Then, select the destination folder to tell Automator where to put the files when the files are copied.
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    See green check next to each step if your test run is successful. Go back through the steps to see where you might have made a mistake otherwise.
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    Find the name you created, and double click it to Edit.
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    Click on the pulldown next to repeat if you want the back-up to run periodically, like every day, every week, or others.
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Community Q&A

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  • Question
    When completing Step eight, the iCal application doesn't open and I cannot complete the process. I have Mac OS X v10.7.2 and, up to this point, every point has been followed accurately.
    Community Answer
    Clear your calendar cache and cache.db and restart. Make sure it works before deleting the backups.
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  • Question
    What if I don't want to replace all the files in a folder, just any changes that have been made? I'm backing up a large folder (100+ GB).
    Community Answer
    Try using GitHub.
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      Tips

      • If you want to completely get rid of this back-up schedule, click the very first iCal alarm of your backup schedule, and tap delete button once. Choose Delete All Future Events in the pop-up window, then you are done.
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      Reader Success Stories

      • Stu Moffitt

        Apr 26, 2016

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