To see the size of a specific file or folder, click it once and then press Command-I. To see storage information about your Mac, click the Apple menu in the top-left of your screen. Choose About This Mac and click the Storage tab. For Time Machine backups, it's good to use a drive that has at least twice the storage capacity of your Mac. Sep 02, 2017 Your PC’s hard drive could fail tomorrow, or a software bug could erase your files, so backups are critical. But you don’t need to back up all the files on your PC.That would just waste space and make your backups take longer to complete. How to Backup Files to OneDrive on your Windows or Mac By default, OneDrive provides 5 GB of free storage on the cloud to its new users. Though, you can always buy more storage to boost OneDrive backup. One of the best things about OneDrive is its easy accessibility. When you’re done copying files, eject the flash drive by right-clicking the flash drive’s icon and choosing Eject from the pop-up menu. Store that drive in a safe location. Repeat the process again as necessary to “freshen” your backup files. Restoring a file is as easy as plugging in the flash drive and copying the files back to your Mac’s hard drive.
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Backing up your Mac is simple and important. We recommend it for everyone.
Back up with Time Machine
Time Machine is the built-in backup feature of your Mac. It’s a complete backup solution, but you can use other backup methods as well.
Create a backup
Store files in iCloud
You can also use iCloud and iCloud Drive to store files, such as your photos, documents, and music.
Set up iCloud and iCloud Drive
Restore your Mac from a backup
When you have a backup, you can use it to restore your files at any time, including after the original files are deleted from your Mac.
Restore from a backup
Prepare your Mac for service
Making a backup is an important part of preparing your Mac for service, especially because some types of repair might require erasing or replacing your hard drive.
Get your Mac ready for service
How much space do I need for a backup?
To see the size of a specific file or folder, click it once and then press Command-I. To see storage information about your Mac, click the Apple menu in the top-left of your screen. Choose About This Mac and click the Storage tab. For Time Machine backups, it's good to use a drive that has at least twice the storage capacity of your Mac.
Related topics
Free up storage on your Mac
macOS can save space by storing your content in the cloud. This isn't a backup, but it includes new tools to make it easier to find and remove large or unwanted files before you make a backup.
Use Optimized Storage in macOS
Erase or format a storage device
You can use Disk Utility if you need to erase or format a storage device.
Learn how to use Disk Utility
macOS Community
If you can't back up your Mac
Do I Need To Backup My Mac Library Folder Windows 10
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Though we store more and more of our music online these days, a hard-copy backup is still the gold standard for keeping your data safe. And if you use Apple Music or iCloud Music Library, the best way to do that is still iTunes.
There are a few ways to back up your iTunes library; it's important to choose one and regularly back up so that you won't have to worry about your local copy getting lost or damaged. My music — at least for me — is one of those must-backup items; I don't want to have to manually re-build or re-buy thousands of tracks.
First: Make sure your entire library has been locally downloaded
If you use iCloud Music Library or the iTunes Store, you may have some or all of your music stored in the cloud. But to truly make sure your purchased and owned content is backed up, you'll want to download a local copy to your Mac. Here's the best way to do so:
To download specific items in your iCloud Music Library right now to your Mac's drive, do the following:
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Launch Music (or iTunes on Mojave and earlier) on your Mac.Source: iMore
- Find the Artist, Albums, or Songs that you want to download.
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Click the ... button to bring up a pop-up menu.Source: iMore
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Click Download to initiate the download of these items.Source: iMore
And if you want to start automatically downloading everything that you add to your Apple Music library from this point forward, then it's easy peasy! Here's how:
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Launch Music (or iTunes on macOS Mojave and earlier) on your Mac.Source: iMore
- Click Music in the menu bar.
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Click Preferences (or press ⌘, on the keyboard).Source: iMore
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Make sure you're in the General tab.Source: iMore
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Click the box for Automatic Downloads to turn it on.Source: iMore
Once that is turned on, any music you add to your Apple Music library will be downloaded automatically to your Mac's hard drive.
How to back up iTunes via Time Machine or another backup service
If you have Apple's Time Machine backup system enabled — or any other cloud — or system-based backup — your iTunes library should automatically be covered. This way, if you ever need to restore, you can just pop back in Time Machine's History (or a past backup from CrashPlan or Carbon Copy Cloner, for example) to retrieve it.
How to manually back up your iTunes library
If you're not employing a Mac-wide backup service (really, you should get on that), or if you just want to manually back up your iTunes library separately, here's how to go about that.
Consolidate your library
To ensure that all of your iTunes files are in the same place when you make a manual backup, you should first consolidate your iTunes library.
- Make sure you've downloaded a local copy of your music to your Mac.
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Launch Music (or iTunes in macOS Mojave or earlier) on your Mac.Source: iMore
- Click File in the upper left corner of your Mac's screen.
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Hover your cursor over Library in the drop down menu.Source: iMore
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Select Organize Library from the secondary menu.Source: iMore
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Tick the box for Consolidate Files when the Organize Library window appears.Source: iMore
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Click OK.Source: iMore
This will make a copy of all files in the iTunes media folder, leaving the originals in their current location.
Copy your iTunes library to a backup source
- If you are using an external hard drive, connect it to your Mac using a USB cable.
- Click on Finder to open a Finder window.
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Select your Mac's Hard drive.Source: iMore
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Click on Music in the sidebar.Source: iMore
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Select the Music folder (or iTunes on macOS Mojave and earlier) and drag that folder to the external hard drive icon on your desktop or copy it to your online backup service.Source: iMore
- Click Authenticate, if prompted, to give permission to make a copy of the iTunes folder.
- Enter your administrator password.
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Click OK.Source: iMore
The copy process will begin. This could take a very long time, depending on how big your Music/iTunes library is. So, sit back, relax, watch a movie, or whatever you do to pass the time.
Desperate times call for desperate measures
If you are about to do something wild with your Music or iTunes library and don't have a way to back it up on an external drive or online backup service, you can make a temporary backup that you store right on your Mac. This is, by no means, a solid backup plan, but can be useful in a pinch.
Do I Need To Backup My Mac Library Folder Download
Note: After making a copy, it is a good idea to move the copied folder to an easy-to-find location that is separate from any folder you plan to make changes to (like the Music folder). This copied folder should be deleted immediately after it is no longer needed because it takes up extra space on your computer's hard drive unnecessarily and could cause confusion with your most current Music or iTunes folder.
- Click on Finder to open a Finder window.
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Select your Mac's Hard drive.Source: iMore
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Click on Music in the sidebar.Source: iMore
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Right-click or control-click on the Music folder (or iTunes folder if you're still on macOS Mojave or earlier).Source: iMore
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Select Duplicate from the drop down menu.
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The copy process will begin. This could take a very long time.Source: iMore
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Move the copied iTunes or Music folder to a new, easy-to-find location.
- Delete the copied iTunes or Music folder once you no longer need the temporary backup.
Any questions?
Running into issues making an iTunes backup? Pop them in the comments below.
March 2020: These are still the current steps for how to back up your music.
Serenity Caldwell contributed to an earlier version of this guide.
Backing up: The ultimate guide
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