HOW TO Master Time Machine backups

Choose a drive

It’s best to dedicate an entire external drive for use with Time Machine. The more space it has available, the more backups you will be able to keep on it before Time Machine starts writing over them. Connect it to your Mac.

Select the disk

Click the Apple menu and choose System Prefs. Click on Time Machine. Click Select Backup Disk and navigate to the drive you just connected. Click Use Disk. Check Back Up Automatically and "Show Time Machine in menu bar".

Exclude folders

It may be that there are some folders on your Mac that you don’t want to back up. If so, click Options in System Preferences > Time Machine. Click the "+", navigate to a folder you don’t want backed up, and click Exclude.

Restore files

Click the Time Machine icon in the menu bar and choose Enter Time Machine. Use the up/down arrows to navigate to the backup to restore from. Navigate the Finder window to locate the files you need and click Restore.

Restore your Mac

To restore more than a few files, use Migration Assistant. Open your Applications folder, then Utilities, and launch Migration Assistant. In the window, choose a Mac, Time Machine backup or Startup disk and Continue.

Choose the backup

Choose the Time Machine backup then click Continue. If there is more than one backup available, you’ll be offered options. Choose one and click Continue. Choose the information you want to transfer and click Continue.