Time Machine Excludes External Drive

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Level 1

61 points

Time Machine Excludes External Drive

I am attempting to backup my Mac Air as well as the external HDD connected to USB-C. This EXTERNAL drive shows up on the "Exclude" list but doesn't get removed when I hit the "-" symbol.

I was using this (external HDD) as my TimeMachine backup previously but now I want to use my (recently repaired) Time Capsule for the backups. I selected this drive for a new backup and It is doing the backup correctly for the internal SSD, but not including the external HDD.

MacBook Air (2018 – 2020)

Posted on Mar 21, 2023 10:41 AM

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Answer 1

Old Toad

Level 10

214,596 points

Mar 21, 2023 10:44 AM in response to GaryReginald

You will have to erase and reformat the external drive. If it's a rotational drive format it as Mac OS X Extended (journaled) with Ownership set to be ignored so that all traces of it having been used for Time Machine have been erased.

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Answer 2

GaryReginald Author

Level 1

61 points

Mar 25, 2023 10:43 AM in response to Old Toad

Old Toad. Your suggestion worked. By copying all the files from the HDD, reformatting the drive, and then restoring all files except the Time Machine backups, I was then able to select and deselect it on my partner's Mac Air in Time Machine. By not excluding it, all the files where included in the Time Machine backup.

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