How do to open a file in a time machine backup without restoring the whole computer?

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How do to open a file in a time machine backup without restoring the whole computer?

I had a MacBook pro I believe it was 2016 a while ago. I always backed it up to an external drive also known as G-drive. I lost it about a year ago and now I have a new Macbook Pro. I have been using this for a while now and have a whole bunch of new documents and data. I wanted to be able to access the data from the G-Drive without restoring it to my current computer and changing what I have now. Anytime I plug it in and try and click on something from the drive it says "You can't open the application "..." because it is in a Time Machine backup. When I check the time machine though, the backup doesn't show and I can't access it.

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Jul 22, 2021 5:04 PM

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Answer 1

Jul 22, 2021 9:27 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

What should I do if I can't see the backup on that screen. If I click on the external hard drive with the backups I can see them just can't access them. And when I go on the time machine I see that screen the one you showed but I don't see the external backups there.

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Answer 2

Jul 22, 2021 6:17 PM in response to floridaboy123

You can't OPEN anything directly from a Time Machine backup. It's a Backup, not a working copy.

You can use Time machine .app [not to be confused with Time Machine Preference pane] to restore any file or group of files, and specify a new location in the process if you like.

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Answer 3

Jul 23, 2021 6:11 AM in response to floridaboy123

floridaboy123 wrote:

What should I do if I can't see the backup on that screen. If I click on the external hard drive with the backups I can see them just can't access them. And when I go on the time machine I see that screen the one you showed but I don't see the external backups there.

See if this is your way forward...

Enter TM and then use the keys Shift Command C

This will bring upfront your main drive. You can now scroll back in time. Once you get where you want you can then open the drive and scroll down to your user library and then documents, downloads, etc. and find the item you want. Then copy to desktop and use or move from there.

ref: How to access Time Machine files from previous OS install?

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5579823

The other possibility is to hold the Option key and click open the TM icon>Browse Other Backups

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How do to open a file in a time machine backup without restoring the whole computer?

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