Backup Your Home Folder on a Mac Laptop or Desktop

Backing up your data is important!  Do it often!  Here's how:

  1. In the Finder window, click on the Go menu, then select Home.  

    Finder_Home.jpeg

     2.  Copy (drag and drop) the contents of your Home folder to a backup folder on your external hard drive. As an alternative, you can also backup most files to your Google Drive.Backup.jpeg

     3.  Allow time for all your files to completely transfer from your laptop to your backup drive. This may take several minutes.

     4. An optional backup is your user Library folder. The user's Library folder is hidden but may contain custom files that you need. For example, if you created a custom dictionary, added special fonts, use Apple's Calendar app, installed a personal licensed application, etc, you may want to back up your user Library folder. Backing up these files may require special permissions. Restoring should only be done by an advanced user.

          a. In the Finder, click on the Go menu, then select Go to Folder...

               Finder_Go.jpeg

          b. Type in ~/Library. Click on Go to view the contents of this folder.

              Go_folder.jpeg

          c. Copy the contents of this folder to a newly created folder on your backup drive.

          d. When it comes time to restore these files we highly recommend that you only restore the necessary files. It is always best to start fresh with a new operating system.

Talk with a tech if you have questions on backups and/or want help restoring files.

 

 

 

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