"How to solve the problem that the 'Time Machine Restore' button is grayed out?"

This article covers two parts to help you resolve the grayed out Time Machine issue. If you're facing this problem on your Mac, follow the fixes below:

"Translating English to Chinese involves turning English text into Chinese, whether that's a simple word-for-word swap or translating full paragraphs or articles. Like when you take the English phrase 'Hello, how are you?' and render it as '你好，你怎么样？' In actual situations, you gotta consider context, cultural subtleties, and making sure the meaning stays spot on."

"Time Machine overview is grayed out and unavailable"

“I have been using Time Machine to back up my MacBook Pro, initially on Yosemite and now on EI Capitan. Yesterday, when I entered Time Machine, it showed the backups but the Restore button was grayed out. I accidentally deleted some Office documents and need to restore them from Time Machine. Now that the restore option in Time Machine is greyed out, how can I retrieve the lost files?”

Built-in to your Mac, Time Machine automatically backs up all your files, including applications, music, photos, email, documents, and system files. This way, you can restore your data when you lose it. However, things don't always go as planned. You might occasionally find the "Restore from Time Machine backup" button grayed out, just like the user experience above. This issue could stem from:

• The Time Machine backup disk was formatted.
• The Time Machine backup is incomplete.
• The Time Machine backup is damaged.

Fixes an issue where Time Machine backup was grayed out.

The "Time Machine" backup might be grayed out because you're using the wrong method to enter Time Machine, or there's an issue with the disk. Try these solutions to fix the problem.

The Right Way to Enter a Time Machine

Solution 1: First, open a Finder window and click Enter Time Machine.

Solution 2: Restart your Mac > Hold Command + R until you see the Apple logo. Release and enter the macOS Utilities. Choose 'Restore From Time Machine Backup.' It should not be grayed out here.

If the backup drive is damaged or formatted, you have to use professional Mac Data Recovery Software to effectively retrieve the lost files.

How to Restore Data on Mac When Time Machine Backup Options Are Grayed Out

If you can't restore data from Time Machine backup, don't worry. Here is the easiest solution – use Data Recovery Wizard for Mac to recover lost files on Mac. It's an all-in-one Mac drive recovery software that helps you to recover files on Mac without Time Machine. It supports data recovery from Mac Trash, hard drive, memory card, flash drive, digital camera, and camcorder. You can use this reliable tool to recover deleted files on Mac, photos, audio, music, emails lost due to deletion, formatting, partition loss, virus attack, system crash, and more.

Step 1: Search for the missing file

In macOS Sierra, High Sierra, Mojave, Catalina, Big Sur, Monterey, Ventura, and the latest Sonoma, select the disk location where you want to search for the missing file (it can be an internal HDD/SSD or a removable storage device). Then, hit the “Start Lost File Search” 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: Review 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

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