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Time machine will not backup

I've tried multiple disks (both hard drives and SSD), different interfaces (USB-C and Thurderbolt), all protection like Sophos is removed, and nothing will get the backup moving... it is perpetually stuck in "preparing backup" for days at a time. Total backup size is less than 500GB.

iMac 27″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Jun 6, 2021 1:19 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jun 6, 2021 6:40 PM

KVGalen wrote:

I've tried multiple disks (both hard drives and SSD), different interfaces (USB-C and Thurderbolt), all protection like Sophos is removed, and nothing will get the backup moving... it is perpetually stuck in "preparing backup" for days at a time. Total backup size is less than 500GB.


See if there is anything here—


If a Time Machine backup takes longer than you expect

1 reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jun 6, 2021 6:40 PM in response to KVGalen

KVGalen wrote:

I've tried multiple disks (both hard drives and SSD), different interfaces (USB-C and Thurderbolt), all protection like Sophos is removed, and nothing will get the backup moving... it is perpetually stuck in "preparing backup" for days at a time. Total backup size is less than 500GB.


See if there is anything here—


If a Time Machine backup takes longer than you expect

Time machine will not backup

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