How to Restore Your Mac from Time Machine [Complete Guide]

What is Time Machine on MacOS Sonoma?

While using your Mac, you might have noticed a small clock icon and an application called “Time Machine.” As the name suggests, the utility allows you to restore your Mac to a previous point in time, including its settings and stored data, or to restore a Time Machine backup to another Mac.

Time Machine is the built-in backup app for macOS that lets you restore individual files, go back to an earlier version of your Mac, or set up a new Mac. Besides, you can also use the all-in-one software – Mac Data Recovery Wizard Pro to back up your data.

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Backup Your Mac and Never Lose Data

Back up and restore your MacBook/iMac without using Time Machine, iCloud, or an external hard drive.

In the latest macOS Sonoma, you can also use Time Machine to recover data lost after a system update. If you want to know how to restore Mac from Time Machine, read on!

How to Set Up Time Machine on a Mac

Once you've set up Time Machine to automatically back up your Mac data, you never have to worry about losing it! So before we delve into how to restore data from Time Machine, let's look at how to set it up:

Step 1. Open Disk Utility and format the external drive as Mac OS Extended (Journaled) or another format supported by macOS.

Make sure that it has enough space to store your backup data.

Step 2. Connect the Mac hard drive to your Mac after you have formatted the hard drive on Mac.

Step 3: Click “Time Machine,” and then select “Open Time Machine preferences.”

Step Four: Select your external drive and turn on “Back Up Automatically” to back up your Mac.

What is the best file system for a Mac – APFS or Mac OS Extended? If you're unsure which one to choose to format your external hard drive, read on to find out!

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APFS vs Mac OS Extended [Beginner's Guide]

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Restoring a Mac from Time Machine: Two Scenarios

Once your data has been backed up automatically by Time Machine, you don't have to worry about losing it. Here are some common scenarios in which you can use Time Machine to restore your data:

• Recover Permanently Deleted Files on Mac
• Restore files corrupted during update
• Transfer Data from Old Mac to New Mac

Restoring data from Time Machine on a Mac can be done in two scenarios: recovering a single deleted file or restoring the entire macOS. Read on for the details of each method.

Scenario 1: Restore Individual Files with Time Machine

If you accidentally delete an important file, you can recover it with Time Machine, provided you set up automatic backups beforehand. Here's how:

Step 1: Open Spotlight by pressing “Command + Spacebar” or clicking the magnifying glass (“?”) icon in the top menu bar.

Step 2: Type Time Machine in the search field and press Return to find Time Machine on your Mac.

Step 3: Open Time Machine and find the deleted file you want to restore.

Step 4. Click “Recover” to restore the deleted files to their original location.

If you need to recover not just a single deleted file, but your whole computer back to a specific point in time, keep reading.

Scenario 2: Restore your Mac using Time Machine

If you need to restore your entire Mac to a specific point in time, you'll need to use the built-in Migration Assistant tool in macOS. Learn how to:

Step One: Click on “Applications” -> “Utilities,” and then launch “Migration Assistant.”

Step Two: Connect the External Drive to Your Mac

Step 3. When the Process window appears, click on the “Continue” option.

Step 4: Choose the “Restore from a Mac, Time Machine backup, or disk image” option.

If the Migration Assistant doesn't respond, don't worry; read on to fix the error.

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8 Ways to Fix Migration Assistant Not Working on Mac

Is Migration Assistant not working on your Mac? Don't worry, this article will guide you through various methods to solve the issue! Read More >>

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Advantages and Disadvantages of Time Travel

Restoring your Mac from a Time Machine backup saves you the trouble of copying and pasting individual files that you might need from a backup, while preserving your personal data, preferences, and apps.

As mentioned earlier, apart from Time Machine on Mac, you can also use data recovery software tools to back up important data; follow the steps below:

Step 1: Click “Disk Backup” > “Create Backup” > “Next”. You can create a hard disk backup image file before the data is overwritten.

Step 2. Select the internal drive you want to back up, then click "Create Backup." If you want to create a backup from or restore data to an external hard drive, USB flash drive, or SD card, connect it to your Mac before proceeding.

Select the disk to back up and click "Next".

Step 3: Choose a location to save the backup file, rename it if you want, and click “Save.” It's not recommended that you save the backup on the same storage device from which you plan to recover data.

Also, there are some limitations to restoring your Mac from a Time Machine backup, such as it not backing up files stored in iCloud, including photos, contacts, calendars, and more. Plus, it doesn't encrypt your backups by default, meaning anyone with access to your backup drive can view your files!

Bonus Tip: Recovering Data Without Time Machine

What if your Time Machine backup gets accidentally deleted and the Time Machine restore option is grayed out? The very thought of it might send chills down your spine. But relax, we have an extremely effective solution in store for you.

Mac Data Recovery Wizard Pro is a powerful data recovery tool that can restore deleted Time Machine backups and recover data to a new Mac.

With its user-friendly interface, you can easily recover lost or deleted files without any data recovery experience. Follow the steps below to learn how to recover deleted files on Mac without Time Machine:

Step 1: Search for the Lost Files

On macOS Sierra, High Sierra, Mojave, Catalina, Big Sur, Monterey, Ventura, and the latest Sonoma, choose the disk location where you lost the file (it can be an internal HDD/SSD or a removable storage device). Then click on the “Search Lost Files” button.

Note: Before you proceed with data recovery, it's recommended that you click “Disk Backup” from the left sidebar and create a backup of your Mac to prevent further data loss. After the backup, the software can recover data from the Mac backup, and your computer can write new data again.

Step 2: Browse the scan results

Data Recovery Wizard for Mac will scan the selected disk partition immediately and display the scanning results.

Step 3. Select the files and recover them

From the scan results, select the files you want to preview and then click the “Recover” button to get them back.

The bottom line?

Utilize Time Machine, the automatic backup feature on your Mac, to prevent data loss due to any reason. If you haven't backed up the deleted files, don't worry! With the Data Recovery Wizard for Mac Pro tool, you can recover permanently deleted files in just three simple steps!