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Here’s how to set up an automatic backup with Time Machine on your Mac with an external hard drive: The beautiful part about Time Machine is that it will keep backing up your new information even if your drive fills up, in which case it will delete the oldest backups.
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If you turn your machine off regularly or use a MacBook, your backups will continue automatically when you plug your external drive back in and your Mac is on. The only reasons your Time Machine automatic backups will stop is if you turn the feature off manually, eject/unplug your external hard drive, or turn off your computer. It’s plug and play ready, doesn’t need an external power source, and has a large enough capacity for most people (check how much storage you’re using by clicking in the top left → About This Mac → Storage).
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If you don’t have an external hard drive or want to get another one, this 1TB (1,000GB) option by Seagate is great for $55. Once Time Machine is configured properly, your Mac will backup hourly for the past 24 hours, daily for the past month and will save a weekly backup for all previous months to an external hard drive or external SSD (solid state drive). You can use most external hard drives, but it will need to be formatted for macOS if it didn’t come that way from the manufacturer. How Time Machine works and detailed walkthrough
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