"Time Machine Backup Plan - A Beginner's Guide"

As you know, Time Machine is a built-in backup utility developed by Apple to back up data on a Mac. It was first introduced in Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard in 2007 and has been included and continually improved in subsequent releases since then.

Time Machine automatically backs up all the files on your Mac to an external hard drive or other disk, including music, movies, apps, documents, and more. If you lose data because of a hardware failure or accidental deletion, it makes it easy to get it back quickly.

It lets you save your backups to various storage devices, such as internal and external hard drives (HDD/SDD), flash drives, or Time Capsules.

Also see: How to schedule Time Machine backups

Time Machine Backup Plan Preview

As the name suggests, Time Machine creates backups of your Mac at specific intervals, hourly, daily, or weekly, depending on your settings.

The first time you set it up, Time Machine makes a complete backup of your Mac. If you have a lot of data, this initial backup might take some time. After the first full backup, Time Machine checks for changes to your documents every hour, and then backs up only what's new or changed. These hourly backups are kept for 24 hours on your computer. In addition, Time Machine keeps daily backups for up to a month, and weekly backups until your backup disk is full.

How do I set up a Time Machine backup schedule on my Mac?

To initiate a scheduled backup with Time Machine, you'll need a backup disk. It's recommended to use an external hard drive that's larger than your source disk. Now, follow the steps below to set up a scheduled backup on your Mac with Time Machine:

Step 1: Connect the external hard drive to your Mac and make sure it's detected.

Step 2: Open Time Machine by going to

For macOS Ventura or later: Click the Apple menu, then System Settings > General > Sidebar > Time Machine.

For earlier versions of macOS: Choose Apple menu > System Preferences > Time Machine.

Step 3: If you're using Time Machine for the first time, it will ask if you want to use that disk for backups. Click the Use Disk button. (Otherwise, click Select Backup Disk… and add your target backup disk.)

Checking “Encrypt backup disk” prevents data leaks.

Step 4: After you choose a backup disk, Time Machine immediately starts backing up your Mac automatically. It will perform subsequent backups according to the following schedule:

• Backups for each hour of the last 24 hours
• Daily backups for the previous month
• Weekly backups for all previous months
• The oldest backups are deleted when your disk space is full.

How to Change the Time Machine Backup Schedule on a Mac

Though Time Machine does back up your Mac regularly, the frequency might not cater to everyone's personalized needs for scheduled backups. Hence, many users wonder how to change the Time Machine backup schedule on their Mac. Here's how:

Step 1 Open Time Machine preferences and click Options.

Step 2. Click on the “Backup Frequency” option, and then select a backup frequency. There are only four options:

• Manually
• Once per hour
• Once per day
• Once per week

Step 3. After selecting a frequency, click “Done,” and it will automatically start backing up on a regular basis.

If Time Machine doesn't meet your needs for scheduling backups, you can try third-party backup software, such as Todo Backup for Mac, to provide more customization for your backup options.

IV. Conclusion

The "Time Machine Backup Plan" enables you to back up your Mac data on a regular basis, ensuring that all crucial documents, photos, music, and apps are safely stored. This is an excellent way for Mac users to protect their data from unexpected loss or damage. Hopefully, this article has provided you with more insights into the Time Machine Backup Plan.