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what does time machine backup include?

How to include USB storage in the time machine backup.


Since I have plenty of datas on my Wd 1TB drive. I wonder if I can backup on time machine or if TM does it only with the very Mac itself only.?


Can you provide a exact procedure to include USB disk, please?



[Re-Titled by Moderator]


MacBook Pro 13″, OS X 10.11

Posted on Mar 27, 2022 11:03 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Mar 27, 2022 11:23 AM

Time machine backs up ONLY Mac-formatted drives.


Time Machine can use a MacOS data structure called the File System Event Store to determine in moment what folders have changed and need to be backed up. Otherwise, it would be forced to perform a deep traversal that could take hours.


Windows drives and USB sticks formatted with Windows New Technology File System (NTFS) or FAT or ExFAT, are not backed up by Time Machine.


You would need to have your data on a drive with MacOS Extended or APFS format to be included in your Time Machine backups

4 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Mar 27, 2022 11:23 AM in response to emanuele78687

Time machine backs up ONLY Mac-formatted drives.


Time Machine can use a MacOS data structure called the File System Event Store to determine in moment what folders have changed and need to be backed up. Otherwise, it would be forced to perform a deep traversal that could take hours.


Windows drives and USB sticks formatted with Windows New Technology File System (NTFS) or FAT or ExFAT, are not backed up by Time Machine.


You would need to have your data on a drive with MacOS Extended or APFS format to be included in your Time Machine backups

what does time machine backup include?

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