After uploading, you can reclaim the storage if you control-click each file and choose to Remove Download. You need enough free storage on your Mac to copy these files before they upload to iCloud. Finally, open the iCloud Drive folder and paste your files. Then control-click a file or folder and choose to Copy. Simply navigate to the System, Applications, Library, or User folders in Finder. Once you do so, your Mac will upload those files to iCloud Drive making them available to you if you ever need to restore a backup. How to back up Mac system files to iCloud Drive Copy important files to your iCloud Drive to back them up.Īlthough Apple doesn’t make it easy to back up your Mac to iCloud Drive-and we don’t recommend it as a primary back up method-you can create a workaround if you wish.Ĭreating a manual backup involves using Finder to copy and paste into the iCloud Drive folder any files you want to back up from your Mac. This method is a little “clunky” and not as reliable as Time Machine though, so we don’t recommend it. That said, you can manually upload system files and applications to iCloud Drive to act as a makeshift back up.

It’s easy to restore data from iCloud, but these backups are severely limited compared to Time Machine, which saves multiple different versions of everything.Īll together, this makes iCloud Drive an unsuitable option for backing up your Mac unless the only files you care to protect are your most recent documents. iCloud Drive also only keeps your deleted files for 30 days. This includes your Desktop, Documents, Photos, Calendar, Reminders, and more.īut iCloud Drive doesn’t sync your applications, user preferences, or other system files. In contrast, while Apple backs up all your iCloud Drive content on its servers, you can only use iCloud to sync particular files from your Mac. This means you won’t lose anything if you need to restore a backup from Time Machine. Since this is a complete backup, it includes every system file, preference, application, and other piece of data from your Mac. Time Machine backs up every file stored on your Mac to an external drive.

iCloud Drive Use Time Machine to back up your Mac to an external drive.

Use a third-party service to back up your Mac to the cloud.

Use AirPort Time Capsule to create wireless Mac backups.How to back up Mac system files to iCloud Drive.

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