HT201250: Use Time Machine to back up or restore your Mac

Learn about Use Time Machine to back up or restore your Mac
artsytexan

Q: Does Time Machine keep multiple versions of your backups?

I need to find some pictures that I backed up on Time Machine a year ago. 

 

About 2 months ago I had to dump them..thinking they were safe on a back up from a year ago. I deleted them and backed up again recently.

 

Is that original back up in Time Machine on my external hard drive?  I've never had to recover anything until now, and it needs to be from 3 back ups ago...does that make sense?

 

Or does it just keep the latest back up?

 

Thanks!

 

Cecile

 

MacBook Pro 13, Mac OS X (10.6.5)

Posted on Aug 13, 2016 12:33 PM

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Q: Does Time Machine keep multiple versions of your backups?

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  • by sarah_s1,

    sarah_s1 sarah_s1 Aug 14, 2016 9:55 AM in response to artsytexan
    Community Specialists
    Aug 14, 2016 9:55 AM in response to artsytexan

    Hi artsytexan,

     

    I understand that you wish to restore some old photos from a Time Machine backup. I know that it's important to have access to your photos, so I'm happy to provide some direction to help with this.

     

    Since you're posting in the OS X 10.7 Lion community, I'm going to share the steps for that software:

    iPhoto '11: Restoring from Time Machine with iPhoto '11 (9.2 or later) and OS X Lion 10.7.2 (or later) - Apple Support.

    To restore photos:

    1. Quit iPhoto.
    2. Connect your Time Machine drive.
    3. In the Finder, open the folder containing your iPhoto Library. Unless you've moved your iPhoto Library, it can be found in Home/Pictures/iPhoto Library.
    4. Enter Time Machine.  (Time Machine can be found in the Dock or in the /Applications folder.)
    5. Choose your desired backup. The timeline on the right side of the screen displays a purple tick mark for each of the backups stored on your Time Machine drive.
    6. Select the iPhoto library you would like to restore, and click the Restore button.

    iPhoto may prompt you to repair your library if there are some inconsistencies in your files. If so, please allow it to proceed by clicking the Repair button. If you notice blank thumbnails, reopen iPhoto while holding down the Command and Option keys. When the Rebuild iPhoto Library window appears, enable the "Rebuild all of the photos’ thumbnailscheckbox. This may take a long time, depending on the size of the library.

     

    For further information about how Time Machine handles your backups, check out this article:

    Use Time Machine to back up or restore your Mac - Apple Support

     

    Thanks for using the Apple Support Communities, cheers!