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enter time machine blank

When I Enter Time Machine I get a blank/black screen and nothing more happens.

MacBook Pro 15″, macOS 11.4

Posted on Jun 5, 2021 9:39 AM

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6 replies

Jun 5, 2021 10:22 AM in response to Norman Turrill

Are you able to open the TM drive on the Desktop and view the folders for the various previous backups?



Hold down the Option key and click on the TM menu in the menu bar. Select "Browse Other Backup Disks…". Select the same disk you've always used and see if there's any change.


If that does't help boot into Safe Mode according to Start up your Mac in safe mode - Apple Support and test to see if the problem persists. Reboot normally and test again.


NOTE: Safe Mode boot can take up to nearly twice as long as a normal boot as it's doing the following; 

• Verifies your startup disk and attempts to repair directory issues, if needed

• Loads only required kernel extensions (prevents 3rd party kernel/extensions from loading)

• Prevents Startup Items and Login Items from opening automatically

• Disables user-installed fonts 

• Deletes font caches, kernel cache, and other system cache files


Jun 5, 2021 9:22 PM in response to Old Toad

I use two backup disks in Time Machine. "Browse Other Backup Disks..." did not help with either disk. So I rebooted into Safe Mode and that seemed to fix whatever the immediate problem was with Enter Time Machine. However, I wanted to restore a particular entry in Contacts. Enter Time Machine could display the current Contacts, but was blank for any previous date. Any ideas why that happens?

Jul 15, 2021 10:11 AM in response to Norman Turrill

I have this same issue with the following conditions. 24" Mac, 16GB Memory, running OS 11.4. A Secondary display is a Samsung 225. If I turn off "Mission Control>Displays have their own space", I can get past the Blank Primary screen and see the Time Machine Folders stacked by time. However the secondary display goes blank. This is really not an acceptable solution since the Menu Bar does not follow the apps like safari to the secondary display in this configuration and obviously when in Time Machine you loose the entire second display. Need some help here from Apple.

enter time machine blank

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