I have the base model MacBook Air M1 256GB SSD 8GB RAM. My spouse has a large photo library (150GB) so we use the feature to backup the photos and her documents and desktop to iCloud, which means not everything is stored locally. However, I want to make regular backups of her files. How can I do this using Time Machine if MacOS automatically deletes local files to manage disk space? I don't want to rely on iCloud as a backup since it's technically a sync (not a backup).
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How to back up MacBook Air with Time Machine if documents are not stored locally?
- Thread starter Fontane
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You choose to NOT optimize storage on the mac. The full photo library is stored on the mac and can be backed up with Time Machine to external drive. You can still use iCloud to synchronize the photo library with an iphone and choose optimized storage on the iphone.
If like in your case you are likely to run out of space on the macs internal SSD you can move the photo library to an external HDD/SSD connected to the MacBook Air. You include this external drive in the Time Machine backup - which should be on a separate external drive. The downside is that you have to always have the external drive with the photo library connected to access your photos - which is not convenient on a laptop on the go.
A workaround is to use an extra user account on the MacBook (with same Apple iD) only for saving a full unoptimized copy of the photolibrary to an external drive. On your primary user account you have an optimized photo library with you on the go. When you dock in at home and can connect the external drive you also log in to the secondary user account. It can run in the background saving a full photo library to an external drive, including doing backup to the Time Machine drive, while you use your primary user acount for everything else.
Se e.g @rajs thread here:
Downside is you have to manually remember login in and out of the secondary user account when you connect/disconnect the external drive for the full photo library.
If like in your case you are likely to run out of space on the macs internal SSD you can move the photo library to an external HDD/SSD connected to the MacBook Air. You include this external drive in the Time Machine backup - which should be on a separate external drive. The downside is that you have to always have the external drive with the photo library connected to access your photos - which is not convenient on a laptop on the go.
A workaround is to use an extra user account on the MacBook (with same Apple iD) only for saving a full unoptimized copy of the photolibrary to an external drive. On your primary user account you have an optimized photo library with you on the go. When you dock in at home and can connect the external drive you also log in to the secondary user account. It can run in the background saving a full photo library to an external drive, including doing backup to the Time Machine drive, while you use your primary user acount for everything else.
Se e.g @rajs thread here:
Downside is you have to manually remember login in and out of the secondary user account when you connect/disconnect the external drive for the full photo library.
@IngoX Thanks much for your reply. The workaround with the second account sounds like the option we'll have to use if we want to keep this setup. However, I'm considering just getting a refurbished Mac mini to use as a main workstation that's always on and then she can use her MacBook Air with the files/photos optimized without worrying about whether everything is backed up.
Having been burned in the past by TM, I am not a believer in only using that as my backup.In your situation, I would follow IngoX's suggestion to move the Photo Library to an external drive, but also purchase a second external drive to use for backup. I use Carbon Copy Cloner (CCC), but there are other good backup programs around. You can set the backup to run as often as you like, and CCC has a "Safety Net" option that holds files removed from the source as long as space allows, in case you made an error. The backup can include any files and folders you want to include from both your MacBook and the new external Photo Library.
Good luck