Rename Time Machine back up folder

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Rename Time Machine back up folder

I reformatted my hard drive and renamed my iMac because of performance issues. Now Time Machine can no longer access my old Time Machine backup folder. I want to access the old backup rather than start a new backup. I thought I could correct the problem by changing the backup folder name to match the new name for my iMac but I can't change the back up folder name. I’d really appreciate advice on how to make a Time Machine to use its old back up.

iMac 21.5″ 4K, macOS 11.6

Posted on Aug 15, 2022 8:58 PM

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Answer 1

John Galt

Level 10

146,516 points

Aug 16, 2022 8:01 AM in response to Michael,Michael,Motorcycle

Renaming the source drive will result in TM considering it a completely different Mac. If you are willing to revert the name to its previous one, you can remove and subsequently add that same backup disk using TM's "Add or Remove Backup Disk..." selection. Upon adding it, TM will tell you that a backup is already created for that Mac and ask if you want to use it.

If you hold an Option key while selecting the Time Machine icon in your Mac's menu bar, an option labeled "Browse Other Backup Disks..." will appear. That will allow you to restore backups created on the "other" Mac.

If you want to associate those previous backups with the "new" Mac, you can do that. In Terminal, type man tmutil for details. Specifically, you would be using the tmutil associatedisk command. The "concrete example" it cites appears to be what you want to accomplish.

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Rename Time Machine back up folder

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