Once you find what you need, select the file or folder, then click on the Restore button at the lower right of your screen. You can’t open files while in Time Machine, but you can preview many items using the Finder’s Quick Look feature – select the file and press the Space Bar to view the contents. You can use the Spotlight search field to help find items. The arrows pointing back and forward near the bottom right of the screen step things through one snapshot at a time.īrowse through your hard drive on any date to find the file, folder or applications you wish to restore. The right side of your screen has bars listing the dates and times of saved backups.Ĭlick on any date bar to travel “back in time” and view the contents of your computer on that date. The overlapping windows indicate files on your computer now (frontmost window), and at progressive snapshots in the past.

When you launch Time Machine your screen morphs to a “time tunnel” view of your computer. Add the icon to your Dock if it isn’t already there. The Time Machine app is the most useful (and coolest) part of the program. This is located in your Applications folder, and is placed in the Dock by default on new Mac user accounts. If you need help, please contact Apple Support.You use the Time Machine application to browse your archives and restore files. Click Continue to start the transfer. Large transfers might need several hours to complete.

If you replace, the old account will delete and then replace the account on your Mac, including everything in its home folder. If you rename, the old account will appear as a separate user on your Mac, with a separate home folder and login. In this example, John Appleseed is a macOS user account. If it has the same name as an account already on your Mac, you're prompted to either rename the old account or replace the one on your Mac. Select your Time Machine backup, then click Continue.When asked how you want to transfer your information, select the option to transfer from a Mac, Time Machine backup, or startup disk.If your Mac starts up to a setup assistant, which asks for details like your country and network, continue to the next step, because the setup assistant includes a migration assistant. It's in the Utilities folder of your Applications folder.

Make sure that your Time Machine backup disk is connected to your Mac and turned on.For example, if your Mac starts up to a flashing question mark, you need to first reinstall macOS. If you need to reinstall macOS, do that before continuing.

Mac time machine restore a file