Why do you need a Time Machine baskup if rverything on your iMac is stored on Cloud?

iCloud Drive is not a true or complete backup. Note that in the documentation in the links that I provided Apple doesn't actually use the work "backup" in the context of iCloud except to include it in the list of possible sources for recovering data files. iCloud is really designed as syncing storage for updating files on other devices you own, so the files just happen to be in iCloud should a device fail and need to be replaced. It isn't designed to be a true backup, just an incidental one.

A slight correction to what was said in an earlier post: If you delete a file from iCloud you can recover it for up to 30 days afterward from Recently Deleted. The advantage of Time Machine is it will keep files until the drive needs more space to store new files. I have some files on my TM backup that date from a year ago so should I delete one and need to recover it theere is a very good chance it is still on my backup even if I don't notice it missing until several months after it was accidentally deleted.

Note there are alternatives to Time Machine and iCloud. I have a clone backup which means if my drive fails I can boot from my backup (which you cannot with Time Machine or iCloud) and be up and running again in less than a minute. Clone boots are also mentioned in the link I provided. However, while I can recover old files from the clone backup, TM has a nicer interface for 'going back in time' that so I actually use both for backing up.

Welcome to Apple Support Communities.

Time Machine is very important to have because it is a true backup. A user, such as yourself, might have iCloud Drive ON, but if a file is deleted from the Mac, it is also deleted from iCloud and permanently gone. Time Machine makes backups of your entire system so you can easily restore files and your entire Mac system if needed.

For more info see: Back up your Mac with Time Machine - Apple Support.

If you need help choosing a Time Machine disk or setting one up, look at the LaCie 6TB d2 Professional Desktop Hard Drive - Apple Store. Then, format the drive as APFS using the GUID Partition Map: Erase and reformat a storage device in Disk Utility on Mac - Apple Support. Finally, Back up your Mac with Time Machine - Apple Support.

-Jack

You can skip it, I do. Worst case if iMac goes south: use inbuilt recovery, then reinstall Apps. As a precaution, do a full backup annual/semi annual and stash the disk away.

The only thing TM gives you that Cloud doesn’t is the ability to choose a backup from a particular date. On Cloud, you only have access to the latest. Enjoy..,

Because not everything on your Mac is stored in iCloud. Maybe many of your data files if you have things correctly configured with iCloud Drive, but not your preferences or settings, etc.

Read this document:

How to back up your Mac - Official Apple Support

It’s your choice. You can skip TM if you’re prepared to recover from built-in recovery + manually install Apps. It’s the choice I’ve gone with. As a precaution, you can do a full backup once 6/12 months and stash the disk away. Hopefully, you’ll enjoy never need it.

Use Carbon Copy Cloner which will make a bootable drive that can be used ilo internal if needed. I use both TM and have 2 clones (one kept offsite). Also TM or clone can be used when setting up a new Mac using migration assistant.

I have TM and CarbonCopyCloner (some use SuperDuper instead so see which best suites your needs) running at the same time on my machine right now. I also found an online utility that lets me change the backup interval for Time Machine so my drives aren't constantly being read by hourly TM backups. Both my backups run at staggered 3 hour intervals.

If my drive should fail I could restart my computer from my backup drive in the time it would take to restart the computer normally. I'd just select my CCC backup volume as the startup volume. Of course then I'm running with no backup for hte backup but as soon as I have a new drive I can clone the backup to the new drive and start using that instead (might take a few hours to copy all my data to a new drive). You could do this in the end with TM too but you would have to install the system files and then the data from TM.

The combination of clone (total current data) plus TimeMachine (total files going back in time) sounds ideal. Can you recommend any brands or methods of doing a "clone" backup? Is it OK to use both clone and TimeMachine at the same time? Am I understanding that if you have a hard-drive failure in your MacBook Pro with no possibility of data recovery that you can install a new hard drive and be up and running almost instantaneously?

An entire day?? Where are you? At any rate, to each his or her own. For me, TM’s past TM’s time. I’ve retired TM and life’s never been better.

I have 2 TB of data.

Thanks for your excellent response. The key is up and running without missing a beat!

Kolestanya wrote:

Why do you need a Time Machine baskup if rverything on your iMac is stored on Cloud?

I would add to the already excellent advice Limnos has given that having more than one kind of backup is far safer than having only one.

TM also gives you the option to not have to pay for iCloud backup storage and to also have your files on a local drive that won't take an entire day to re-download to your computer. ;-)