Is do you want a separate backup drive for each Mac you’re backing up? Got One Mac To Backup? Remember earlier you found out how much drive space you have and how much drive space your using?įirst decision. Then you could backup over Wi-Fi whenever your Mac is in Wi-Fi range of the network drive.īacking up a lot of files over Wi-Fi is going to be slow. Or office then you could consider getting a networked attached external hard drive.Ī drive with Wi-Fi connectivity. You’ll need to get yourself a USB 3.0 to USB 3.1/USB C adaptor cable. You’d need an USB adaptor cable.Īnd you’ll need one if you’re plugging in a USB 3.0 drive into your Mac with USB C ports So when you’re plugging in a USB C drive into your Mac with USB 3.0 or 2.0 ports. The plug in connections changed between USB 3.0 and USB 3.1. It’s also worth knowing that USB 3.1 is also called USB C. And your older Mac would talk to the faster external hard drive as fast as it could. And that means those speeds are reduced in the real world by 20 to 30%.Īnd that means you could put a USB 3.1 external drive on your Mac with USB 3.0 Mac ports. That means the top speed that your drive could work at.īut. USB VersionĪnd note that the speeds shown in the table are theoretical max speeds. And you’ll see here the options along with their theoretical speeds. So let’s talk a bit about those interfaces. You can buy an external drive in a variety of capacities – storage sizes and with a range of interfaces. Now that’s all cleared up let’s talk options. There’d be no way to do that if your backup was on your internal drive. Then, if the worst happens you can restore your backup. The right thing to do is to keep your backup separate. Then all your files are gone.Īnd that includes the backup you have on there. If your backup – your insurance policy – is on that same internal drive.Īnd you lose that drive. Your plan in case the worst happens and you lose your Mac’s internal drive. I’ll just backup to my internal hard drive. Let’s take a minute to explain the whole internal versus external thing. Why You Don’t Backup Your Mac To An Internal Drive You can get rid of the ‘About This Mac’ window by clicking on the small red button top left. You can hover over each one and see what comes up. That mean 113GB is used.Īnd how it’s used is shown by the different colored bars. The Mac has a 250GB internal drive.Īnd 137GB is available. It’s the top right of your desktop screen.Īnd from that menu you pick ‘About This Mac’.
How To Find Out How Much Space You’re Using And Need To Backup? And how much of that drive space you’re using. Make a note of the size your Mac’s internal drives.