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WCBvi6 Author

Level 1

5 points

trouble accessing a time machine backup - sparsebundle

I backed up one of my computers to an external drive in July. At the time I did not notice that it had done the back up in the format of a sparcebundle. I had not seen that before. The machine I backed up is an older iMac on the latest IOS available for it which I believe is 2 back.

Now I am trying to open the back up using my current MacBook Air and it does not seem to want to open. It just has a message in the finder screen that says calculating size and it sits there. The external drive on which it sits has plenty of free space. Any guidance / suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance for your assistance.

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 12.0

Posted on Nov 20, 2021 5:53 AM

Top-ranking reply

D.I. Johnson

Level 7

24,143 points

Posted on Nov 20, 2021 10:04 AM

In addition to the good guidance from user @ku4hx, I'll add that the TM backup files cannot be accessed properly on a second Mac, one that did not create the backup, unless that Mac "inherits" the backup history via Setup Assistant or Migration Assistant, or the backup is "associated" with the second Mac via Terminal commands.

Once a backup is inherited by or associated with another Mac, it no longer is usable on the other.

Managing Time Machine when you replace drives or computer - Creative Tech Support

If your new Mac inherits your backup history - Apple Support

And to reiterate @ku4hx's guidance, it is never a good idea to tinker with TM backup files directly via the Finder window. Always use the "Enter Time Machine" command via the menu bar.

Restore items backed up with Time Machine on Mac - Apple Support

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trouble accessing a time machine backup - sparsebundle

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