Back Up Your Mac: Complete Guide [2023]

Tech Talk America
Tech Talk America
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Published 2023-10-15
🍎 Back in "the day," you were taught to have a data backup to protect against hardware failure or human error. Today, we have new threats like climate change, war, or someone hacking into your Apple ID, taking all your data hostage, and selling it back to you for a ransom! THAT is why we need to have an UPDATED conversation about how to back up your data. Think of iCloud as your parachute 🪂 It's going to protect you... probably 😬🤞 But if it doesn't, 😱 that's why we have an emergency chute (in case the 💩 hits the 🪭)

NOTE: You will need an external hard drive for this solution.

Think your old backup drive holds up?
Go to the App Store and Download BLACK MAGIC DISK SPEED TEST
USA LINK: apps.apple.com/us/app/blackmagic-disk-speed-test/i…

If your drive shows a READ/WRITE Speed UNDER 200MB/sec, it's time to buy a new one.
All the drives you see below are Solid State Drives (SSDs).

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CHAPTERS:
00:00 Brief Introduction
00:55 My Backup Solution (Overview)
02:03 Using Black Magic Disk Speed Test to Test External Drive
02:36 How Much Storage Do I Need?
03:13 My Favorite Backup Drives
03:39 Format and Partition Your External Drive
04:45 Setup Time Machine
05:32 How to Use Time Machine (& its flaws)
07:12 Protecting Your Photo Library
09:32 Protecting Your Documents
10:00 Back Up Your Contacts
10:23 Back Up Music
10:48 Back Up Your Passwords
11:22 Back Up Calendar Data
12:34 Legacy Contact

WATCH:
How To Setup A Legacy Contact:
   • How to Create A Legacy Contact - iPho...  

📌 What's Inside This Video?
1️⃣ A three-part comprehensive backup strategy for your Mac
2️⃣ Vital tips on selecting the right external hard drive for backups
3️⃣ Real-time examples showing the strengths and weaknesses of Time Machine
4️⃣ Special insights on how to back up your most valuable data, including photos, emails, and contacts
5️⃣ An overview of establishing a 'Legacy Contact' for your iCloud data
6️⃣ Step-by-step instructions on how to format your external hard drive correctly

📊 Key Takeaways
A modern backup strategy includes cloud solutions like iCloud, an offline backup, and a legacy contact. Performance check your existing external hard drive using Blackmagic Disk Speedtest. Time Machine is excellent but has its limitations, particularly with specific types of data like emails and photos. You should have an external clone of your photo library that stores the originals.


📞 Your Questions
Got lingering questions? We've got answers! For a more in-depth one-on-one session, book a 'Tech Therapy' at TechTalkAmerica.com 📅

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🔗 Keywords
#MacBackup #Apple #TimeMachine #iCloud #ExternalHardDrive #DataProtection #CyberSecurity #LegacyContact #TechTalkAmerica #AppleTutorial #BackupStrategy #MacOS #Technology

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All Comments (21)
  • @RustyX111
    Love this video David. So very helpful. Thank you!
  • @Dulcilady
    Thank you for this video. As usual, you’ve explained things so they’re easy to grasp. 😊
  • @michaelk615
    Excellent presentation! 5 thumbs up to you David Wavid! 😀
  • @bettycarlisle2961
    I like easy to follow but a bit fast. Stoping and starting I was successful. Thank you
  • @jsosa1957
    thx for all you do to help ppl that just would not no what to do God bless you
  • @FrancisDonnelly-mu8qy
    Hi David, Thank for for all of your informative videos. I really appreciate them. When testing HD speed using the Black Magic Speed Test app, how can I tell if it is testing my external HD and not my internal drive? I'm using an M1 Mac Mini.
  • @johnkaras9490
    Great video, as always! David, have you ever thought about writing a how to book? Just a suggestion.
  • @MrMgd33
    Thanks, it is always confusing the right way to do things and keep sane! Time to backup!
  • @paraflamacue
    Always great help David, Thank you.....I'm Still on Monterey, Photo back up does not show Synced with iCloud on my Mac (BU to Ext drive complete), but Does Show on my iPhone. Have I missed something?
  • @lightyagami6181
    This is great stuff, very informative. Thank you! I did the Blackmagic disk speed test on the various external hard drives I have. Interestingly, my oldest hard drive gets the best read & write speeds of about 98 MB/s. Its format is MacOS Extended (Journaled). A pretty new hard drive I have only gets about 60 MB/s. I have it formatted as ExFAT. I couldn't even do the speed test on my last hard drive. This is the one I use together with time machine and its format is APFS (case sensitive). Any thoughts on why my speeds vary so much/why they aren't very impressive? Maybe the format type also plays a role? Thanks. :)
  • @rickp6689
    Great video as usual! I've purchased a new Mac mini system and converting an old iMac to it-I'd like to book a 2 hour continieous session with you but before hand what do you recommend for a back up system? I'm looking at OWC 16TB ThunderBay 4 mini 4-Drive SSD Thunderbolt 3 RAID 5 Array or PROMISE Pegasus32 R4 16TB RAID System?
  • @marlonmcbride6293
    Great video David. How do you reverse the process if I no longer want to use my external drive?
  • @gailbarlow8958
    I have a new 8tb drive coming today. As it is not SSD what do you choose as the format please? Mac OS Extended? Sorry, not a systems girl 😞 I like the idea of it being split for Time Machine and normal backup. I will carefully follow your instructions if I can see what format I need! It is to backup new MacBook Pro after my old lady 12 year old iMac became unstable. My files are on iCloud at the moment. Thank you.
  • @ELEKTROGOWK
    Partition or Volume for TimeMachine? Which one should be used?
  • @mikeintorquay2891
    Perfect timing. My Time Machine drive just failed!! Purchased a Crucial X9 Pro 4TB SSD (amazingly quick and very small). I followed your instructions, and my mac says it saves an encrypted 1st copy onto an unencrypted disk. Any reason why you suggested an unencrypted disk?