How to back up Mac system files to iCloud Drive Copy important files to your iCloud Drive to back them up.Īlthough Apple doesn’t make it easy to back up your Mac to iCloud Drive-and we don’t recommend it as a primary back up method-you can create a workaround if you wish.Ĭreating a manual backup involves using Finder to copy and paste into the iCloud Drive folder any files you want to back up from your Mac. This method is a little “clunky” and not as reliable as Time Machine though, so we don’t recommend it. That said, you can manually upload system files and applications to iCloud Drive to act as a makeshift back up. It’s easy to restore data from iCloud, but these backups are severely limited compared to Time Machine, which saves multiple different versions of everything.Īll together, this makes iCloud Drive an unsuitable option for backing up your Mac unless the only files you care to protect are your most recent documents. iCloud Drive also only keeps your deleted files for 30 days.

This includes your Desktop, Documents, Photos, Calendar, Reminders, and more.īut iCloud Drive doesn’t sync your applications, user preferences, or other system files. In contrast, while Apple backs up all your iCloud Drive content on its servers, you can only use iCloud to sync particular files from your Mac. This means you won’t lose anything if you need to restore a backup from Time Machine. Since this is a complete backup, it includes every system file, preference, application, and other piece of data from your Mac. Time Machine backs up every file stored on your Mac to an external drive. iCloud Drive Use Time Machine to back up your Mac to an external drive.

How to set up and use macOS and OS X Time Machine.

Transfer your Time Machine backups to a new drive with this guide.

Does my Mac store iCloud Drive Desktop & Documents folders locally?.In fact, unlike on iPhone or iPad, Apple offers no official way to back up your Mac to iCloud. While iCloud Drive lets you upload documents to Apple’s servers for online access.īut no matter how much iCloud storage you have, you can’t tell Time Machine to back up your Mac to iCloud Drive. Time Machine lets you create local backups on an external drive. ICloud and Time Machine both offer ways to store data from your Mac.

How to backup my mac with time machine