Can't browse Time Machine backup of external drive

[ricecrispies]

I have Time Machine backups of my MacBook Pro, including a backup of some of the folders on an external SSD. I have just accidentally deleted and purged from trash a folder from that SSD that I shouldn't have deleted, so now I need to browse an older backup to restore it from.

Unfortunately, when I browse Time Machine, the external disk is only browsable on the most recent backup. I need to retrieve my folder from an older backup, but, in all the of the half dozen or so earlier backups that are available to browse, the external disk is represented by a folder icon rather than a disk icon, and this folder turns out to be empty.

How can I browse those earlier backups and retrieve my lost folder?

 

[Nermal]

How are you browsing? I've found if I choose "Browse Time Machine Backups" from the menu then it only shows the past couple of days, but if I go into Finder and open the drive then I can see the earlier ones.

 

[ricecrispies]

How are you browsing? I've found if I choose "Browse Time Machine Backups" from the menu then it only shows the past couple of days, but if I go into Finder and open the drive then I can see the earlier ones.

I've tried both. Fortunately, I was finally able last night to work out how to mount my failsafe offsite Borg backup of my most essential data and recover the files that way, so the crisis is over for now. However, it would still be good to get to the bottom of this. If I ever need to recover quickly from total data loss in the future, a local Time Machine backup is the only viable option, assuming that I can actually rely on it.

One thing to know about the backup is that the folders on the external drive are ones that I haven't written to for quite a long time, possibly not since before the earliest snapshot that Time Machine offers me (December 2024), although I can't remember much about that for certain.

 

[Fishrrman]

This reply won't solve your problems with time machine.

But if you'd like a backup that WON'T fail on you when you need it, try either
CarbonCopyCloner
or
SuperDuper.

(nothing more need be said...)

 

[Honza1]

Carbon Copy Cloner is my way of reliable backing data, especially from external drives for which TM is bit finicky to configure.

For ANY backup with ANY method - you need to routinely test that restore is possible and know how to (method/tools, names/passwords). Without tested and routinely verified method of restore, backup is useless exercise making you "feel good", but nothing else. Expensive message our business IT has learned ~10 years ago when we paid for years to off site company and were dumping data every night there into "backups" - and then when we needed desperately some files back they were not readable/usable/available/whatever...
Browsing CCC or TM backups occasionally and opening a file or two from them is trivial test you should do as part of routine maintenance. Lesson learned.

 

[adrianlondon]

If you're only seeing a folder, could it be that at the time the backup ran, the SSD wasn't mounted?

Even if it shows in Finder in the sidebar, it could be that it's not mounted (current mounts show in the "/Volumes" directory).