How to sync two Macbooks and use one as a backup

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Level 1

4 points

How to sync two Macbooks and use one as a backup

After a frightful day updating to Catalina, having it freeze multiple times, and fearing that I may have lost all my files (too long a story), I need a better solution to my life. I plan to get a new MacBook with a larger screen for work and, because I really HATE the time it takes to upgrade the operating system and restore from back-up when things go wrong, I plan to keep my current laptop as a part of my backup plan. My idea is to keep the two Macbooks synced so everything I do is both places and I can stay in business if something goes wrong with one. And then I was thinking I ought to do a Time Machine back-up of one of the Macbooks that I could use for both. Is this a sound plan? Or do I need to use Time Machine on both laptops? Also, I have never used iCloud because I want everything I do to be safe on MY computer and not live in the cloud. Can I use iCloud to keep EVERYTHING except mail in both places? And only use it for that? (I do not need email to be synced -- I use Gmail on the web instead of Mac Mail (which became a nightmare). I have also considered using Dropbox. Thoughts?

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Sep 20, 2020 7:26 PM

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Answer 1

Sep 25, 2020 4:27 PM in response to sherylka

Greetings sherylka,

We understand that you are wanting to work from two different Mac computers, and we'd like to offer some guidance. Using iCloud and compatible applications will be the best way to accomplish this goal. Please note, that you won't actually be able to 'sync' the two Mac devices together via iCloud for all content and settings. You can however use iCloud and iCloud Drive to sync documents and items like photos and contacts. You can find help setting up and using iCloud here:

Set up iCloud on your Mac

What is iCloud Drive?

iCloud Drive FAQ

Set up iCloud Drive

Add your Desktop and Documents files to iCloud Drive

Access your iCloud content on your Mac

Here is some information on Time Machine. You would want to do a back up on both devices.

Back up your Mac with Time Machine

Take care.

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Answer 2

tygb

Level 9

65,016 points

Sep 26, 2020 2:58 AM in response to sherylka

Time machine back up is for an individual Mac https://support.apple.com/en-in/HT201250 even the two Macs are signed in with same Apple ID and password say example1@icloud.com on the same network and iCloud Drive and desktops and documents is always turned as on , and iCloud features are synced except mail https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT207689

The only draw back of using web mail accounts on their server is the internet service providers don't keep the mails for years on their servers , they might be deleted .

Thats the reason IMAP accounts are preferred https://support.apple.com/en-in/guide/mail/mail35803/mac , you can save complete mail data on V 7 folder , keep it on desktop or save to usb flash drive .

Click on finder take cursor on top menu bar > click on Go and hold option key click on > library > select mail folder > right click on mail folder there itself > click on copy mail > right click on the desktop > click on paste item .

Entire mails are copied to V 7 folder and V 7 folder will get saved on the desktop .

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How to sync two Macbooks and use one as a backup

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