New mac user having trouble with Time Machine

[Halloween Jack]

Hi folks,

I'v ejust got a iMac 27'' 2020 running Big Sur 11.4.

I've got an ext hdd to use as a Time Machine drive and I believe I've set this up correctly and it's done a restore point.

I thought the idea was that I could take a snap shot at a certain time and save that in case I wnat to go back to it. ie get rid of installed apps, programs and various stray media.

What I don't understand is how I go back to that point.

If I enter Time Machine I seem to just get options to restore certain files or apps.

But how does this remove current apps to return it to how it was?

After Googling it was said that you need to go into restore mode. But if I do that i'm told I need to reinstall OS and then use a piece of software I've forgotten the name of.

I did reinstall OS but it just left me where i was. I didn't see an option to restore to an earlier point.

This is a machine purely for work, I wanted a snapshot of a the machine with just what I need on it.

I hope that makes sense. Maybe I've misunderstood what the time machine is for?

Thanks

 

[CoastalOR]

I think this Apple Support page should help.

Restore your Mac from a backup - Apple Support

Restore files from your backup.

support.apple.com

 

[chabig]

If I enter Time Machine I seem to just get options to restore certain files or apps.

You misunderstood Time Machine. This is exactly what it's for.

 

[0128672]

If this is your first Mac (and congrats, btw), I'm guessing you had used a Windows total systems snapshot app that did what you expected Time Machine to do. Maybe there are Mac apps that offer such features, but I only use Time Machine, so am not aware of any.

Here's another support article about how local Time Machine snapshots work when your backup drive is not connected:

About Time Machine local snapshots - Apple Support

Time Machine lets you restore files from local snapshots of the files on your Mac, even when your Time Machine backup disk isn't available.

support.apple.com

Edited to add: I haven't tried this but you might consider creating another user with the system setup you'd like to use as an alternative. I'm not sure that would do what it sounds like you want as a total system restore point.

 

[Halloween Jack]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I'll look into this.

I think the title Time Machine made me think of taking your mac back to a point in time, including files present and intalls.

Maybe it's more of a recycle bin? You can find things that may have been deleted?

Anyway I'll take a look at all this and see.

Thanks again guys

 

[Apple_Robert]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I'll look into this.

I think the title Time Machine made me think of taking your mac back to a point in time, including files present and intalls.

Maybe it's more of a recycle bin? You can find things that may have been deleted?

Anyway I'll take a look at all this and see.

Thanks again guys

Prior to macOS Big Sur, you could use Time Machine to completely take your Mac back in time to a specific date. Big Sur ended that.

 

[gilby101]

Prior to macOS Big Sur, you could use Time Machine to completely take your Mac back in time to a specific date. Big Sur ended that.

I don't think you understand Time Machine. TM in Big Sur will take your Mac back to any date in TM. Only becomes tricky when you want to back to a time with a previous major version of macOS.

 

[gilby101]

I think the title Time Machine made me think of taking your mac back to a point in time, including files present and intalls.

Yes. It can take your whole Mac back to a point in the past.

Maybe it's more of a recycle bin? You can find things that may have been deleted?

Yes, it can also find individual files or folder that you had in the past and have since deleted.

But don't think of it as a recycle bin - that has a specific meaning in macOS: a temporary place (on your main disk, not TM disk) keeping recently deleted files.

 

[Halloween Jack]

Yes. It can take your whole Mac back to a point in the past.


Yes, it can also find individual files or folder that you had in the past and have since deleted.

But don't think of it as a recycle bin - that has a specific meaning in macOS: a temporary place (on your main disk, not TM disk) keeping recently deleted files.

Thanks. It's starting to make sense.

I get the 2 functions. The Time Machine App on desktop to grab individual files/ folders.

So, what's the procedure for taking it back to a point in the past?

Is that the process from recovery mode I've read about? When I tried this to see how it worked asked me to reinstall OS, which I let it do, then I just ended up back where I was, no offer to go back to a previous point.

Maybe I missed the step somehow?

Most of documentation, including those kindly posted above (thanks guys!) talk about restoring files from a previous time, not restoring the mac to a previous time.

Thanks

 

[Apple_Robert]

I don't think you understand Time Machine. TM in Big Sur will take your Mac back to any date in TM. Only becomes tricky when you want to back to a time with a previous major version of macOS.

I don't think you understand Time Machine. TM in Big Sur will take your Mac back to any date in TM. Only becomes tricky when you want to back to a time with a previous major version of macOS.

I think my problem at the time was the due to having different BS builds. TM kept telling me I had to use Migration Assistant. That is why I made the comment I did. I haven't used TM since the early days of getting the M1. Before the M1 and BS, I had no problems using TM, as I had used it for years for individual file retrieval as well as a complete go back.

 

[gilby101]

Is that the process from recovery mode I've read about? When I tried this to see how it worked asked me to reinstall OS, which I let it do, then I just ended up back where I was, no offer to go back to a previous point.

Maybe I missed the step somehow?

The process is to 1) Boot to recovery mode, 2) erase the internal/boot/system disk, 3) install macOS (involves download from Apple), 4) recover everything else with Migration Assistant.

You probably missed step 2. In which case a reinstall will reinstall macOS but leave everything else as it was.

How to reinstall https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204904 which includes a link to https://support.apple.com/en-au/HT208496 about erasing the disk.
Migration Assistant https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203981 asks you which backup to use for recovery.

 

[gilby101]

I had no problems using TM, as I had used it for years for individual file retrieval as well as a complete go back.

You really should look again at TM. The BS version with TM to APFS is a great improvement. My only caveat is if you are someone who needs to go back to old versions of macOS - Apple will continue to make this difficult

 

[0128672]

I use the same two external disks to backup my Mac using TM and another volume on it to backup my iPad (manually, without TM, alas ….)