dshoultz91
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Q: Unable to find Airport, and cannot reset to factory settings

I have a 2TB Airport Time Capsule that unfortunately while going through a handful of network changes, somewhere along the lines I pressed 'forget device' and now for the life of me, I cannot connect to it.

 

I am unable to reset to factory settings because I have about 1GB of data and Time Machine backups on it.  Is there any possible way to recover it and make it visible again so I can continue with my backups, without completely resetting it?

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X El Capitan (10.11.3)

Posted on Feb 8, 2016 4:14 PM

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dshoultz91

Q: Unable to find Airport, and cannot reset to factory settings

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  • by Tesserax,Helpful

    Tesserax Tesserax Feb 8, 2016 7:37 PM in response to dshoultz91
    Level 9 (54,563 points)
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    Feb 8, 2016 7:37 PM in response to dshoultz91

    Resetting the Time Capsule, regardless of the type of reset you do, does not affect any data stored on the TC's internal hard drive.

  • by Bob Timmons,

    Bob Timmons Bob Timmons Feb 8, 2016 5:18 PM in response to dshoultz91
    Level 10 (105,118 points)
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    Feb 8, 2016 5:18 PM in response to dshoultz91
    I am unable to reset to factory settings because I have about 1GB of data and Time Machine backups on it

    Relax. Even if you have to go so far as to reset the Time Capsule back to factory default settings, that action will only erase the network settings on the Time Capsule.  The data on the Time Capsule hard drive will NOT be affected in any way.

     

    You probably don't remember the network changes that you have made recently, so our options are going to be very limited as far as avoiding a factory default reset to the Time Capsule and starting over again with a new setup.

     

    Try powering off the Time Capsule by pulling the power cord from the back of the device.

    Then, restart your Mac

    After the Mac has restarted, power up the Time Capsule and let it run a few minutes.

    Now, check to see if the Time Capsule will appear in AirPort Utility.

  • by dshoultz91,

    dshoultz91 dshoultz91 Feb 8, 2016 7:37 PM in response to Bob Timmons
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 8, 2016 7:37 PM in response to Bob Timmons

    Bob, I'm very relaxed thank you for your very helpful suggestions.  Yes, I rebooted the Airport device and my Macbook long before i went so far to post a thread here at Apple Support.  I don't know why you'd assume I don't remember the changes I made, but yes I do remember all of the network changes I made but they were irrelevant at the point I posted my thread. 

     

    I was however able to figure this out on my own.  I simply created a new network, and connected the Airport to that network.  Then I joined the new WiFi network and searched for the Airport again through the Airport Utility  It showed up and I found the Airport Time Capsule and was able to connect and complete my backup and access all of my data > I'm just on a new WiFi Network that I'll have to move the rest of my household too..  but it's fine. 

     

    My question was more to the point, if you by mistake press 'Forget this Device' on your home network, how can you 'un-forget' the device and find it again to resume your backups, etc.  ALL of the threads I read were to reset to factory settings so I was looking for some more in depth suggestions..  other than of course to restart my computer as you suggested 

     

    Thanks though, we are back online.