How To Back Up My Data From Mac To External Hard Disk

Backing up is an awesome way to save your important data securely. There are different quick methods to back up your data. Backup using an external hard drive is one of those methods.If you’re planning to back up your data from your Mac to an external hard drive, continue reading this page to know more about the same.

Generally, almost all macOS devices come with the Time Machine app pre-installed on them. Time Machine allows you to back up the data stored on your computer securely. It allows you to back up the following:

Documents
App data
Music

Videos
Photos and more

Even if this default backup app is reliable, economical, and user-friendly, the time it takes to complete the backup process varies based on the data size. So, some people prefer using an external hard drive for backup.

Continue reading to know how to back up your data from Mac to an external hard drive with Time Machine in 2022.

Backing up the data with Time Machine in 2022

First, connect the external hard drive (on which you wish to store the backup data) to your computer if it is not connected yet.

Second, open the Time Machine app on your Mac computer if it is closed.

Finally, back up the data to the connected EHD (external hard drive).

Connecting the drive to Mac

Get the USB or USB-C (Mac with Thunderbolt 3 ports) cable.
Plug one of the ends of your cable into the external hard drive and connect the other end to your Mac.
Ensure that the cable is connected securely.
Now, check whether the external drive icon is displayed on your computer desktop.

If yes, go to the next step (Launching Time Machine).
Otherwise,
Open the Finder menu.
Select the Preferences option followed by General.
Locate and click the checkbox beside the External disk option.
Now, you can see the drive or disk icon on the desktop.

(If you still can’t see the drive or disk icon, check whether the cable is connected properly at the ends. Unplug and reconnect the cable/replace the cable if necessary).

Launching Time Machine

Open Finder on your Mac.
Select the Applications option from the menu.

Now, click the Time Machine icon on the Applications screen to open it.

Backing up the data

Locate the “Select Backup Disk…” button on the Time Machine app screen and click on it.
Choose the EHD connected to your Mac computer.
Click Use disk.
Now, a pop-up dialog box will open if your drive needs to be encrypted to use it.
Click Select disk.
Choose the drive again and click Encrypt backups in the opened dialog box.

Encrypt your drive by following the prompts displayed on the screen.
The main window will open once the drive is encrypted and ready to use.
Click the checkbox beside the Back Up Automatically option if necessary.
Once the backup process is initiated, wait for it to be completed.
You can see the backup status on the right-hand side of the Time Machine screen.
Once the backup is done, eject the EHD safely from your Mac computer.