How do I access a Time Machine backup of an external drive?

Question

Level 1

12 points

How do I access a Time Machine backup of an external drive?

Hi,

I use Time Machine and a Time Capsule to backup an external drive. On the external drive, I store my Photos application/collection. I do not keep this drive plugged in all the time, so it is only backed up periodically.

I have successfully removed the external drive from the list of excluded backups (so the drive is being backed up by Time Machine).

My question is, should I ever loose/break this external drive (and no longer be able to plug it in to my computer), how would I access the Time Machine backup of this drive?

I really appreciate any help, thanks!

MacBook Pro

Posted on Jan 20, 2020 6:14 PM

Reply

Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

BDAqua

Level 10

245,483 points

Jan 29, 2020 7:34 AM in response to a-a

Ah, I see thanks...

You can access external volumes through any of the following means:

In the Finder, open a window from the external volume and then select Enter Time Machine from the Time Machine system menu. This should take you to a view that lets you browse the contents of that volume.

Select Enter Time Machine and then use the sidebar to select a volume.

Find the Backups.backupdb folder on the Time Machine volume (connected directly or as a network shared volume) and open it. Inside, you'll find each computer backed up by name. Open the correct name and then open the Latest folder. All volumes appear there.

https://www.macworld.com/article/3429369/find-an-external-drive-backed-up-to-time-machine.html

Reply

Answer 2

a-a Author

Level 1

12 points

Jan 29, 2020 2:06 AM in response to BDAqua

Thanks for your response. Could you point me in the right direction?

What I was asking was: if the external drive was to get lost/broken, how would I access the backup of it, as the backups of it only shows up in Time Machine when the drive is mounted?

Reply