Apple Intelligence now features Image Playground, Genmoji, Writing Tools enhancements, seamless support for ChatGPT, and visual intelligence.
Apple Intelligence has also begun language expansion with localized English support for Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, and the U.K. Learn more >
Apple Intelligence has also begun language expansion with localized English support for Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, and the U.K. Learn more >
You can make a difference in the Apple Support Community!
When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.
When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.
I have a new Seagate external drive, which I need to format so that it also backs up to my Time Machine*. What is the best format to set this to?
I will only be using the external drive on my Mac, so I don't need it to be compatible with PC.
Thanks
iMac, macOS 10.12
Holdam wrote:
I'm sorry, I'm not familiar with some of the terminology used in your reply.
To clarify, the Seagate external drive won't be used as the Time Machine; I need to ensure what's on the external drive will back up to the time machine.
Make sure the Seagate drive is NOT excluded (removed) from Time Machine backups in System Preferences > Time Machine > Options.
Jack
Holdam wrote:
I'm sorry, I'm not familiar with some of the terminology used in your reply.
To clarify, the Seagate external drive won't be used as the Time Machine; I need to ensure what's on the external drive will back up to the time machine.
Make sure the Seagate drive is NOT excluded (removed) from Time Machine backups in System Preferences > Time Machine > Options.
Jack
See the information in Types of disks you can use with Time Machine on Mac - Apple Support including the following:
APFS or APFS Encrypted disks are the preferred format for a Time Machine backup disk. If you select a new backup disk that’s not already formatted as an APFS disk, you get the option to erase and reformat it. If the disk is a Mac OS Extended format disk that contains an existing Time Machine backup, you aren’t asked to erase and reformat the disk.
Note: The entire APFS volume is reserved for Time Machine backups. If you want to store files other than the Time Machine backup on the same physical device, use Disk Utility to create an additional APFS volume on the disk. The two volumes then share the available space.
Time Machine still supports backups on Mac OS Extended format (Journaled), Mac OS Extended (Case-sensitive, Journaled), and Xsan formatted disks.
Sorry, I misunderstood your original post.
If I was intending to use the disk with a Mac I would format it to APFS or APFS (Encrypted). See: File system formats available in Disk Utility on Mac - Apple Support
To included the disk in a Time Machine backup, Go to Apple menu > System Preference > Time Machine and click "Options" at the lower right corner of the Preferences window. It should show your external drive (the one you want to backup) in the list of excluded drives (external drives are excluded by default). Select that drive and then click the minus sign at the lower left of the window to remove it from the excluded list.
I'm sorry, I'm not familiar with some of the terminology used in your reply.
To clarify, the Seagate external drive won't be used as the Time Machine; I need to ensure what's on the external drive will back up to the time machine.
Also, FWIW, if it isn't too late, I personally would consider returning the Seagate and replacing it with a LaCie or G-Technology drive.
Jack
It should be formatted to one of these formats depending on the type of drive it is, SSD or rotational HD:
Thank you
How Do I Format my Seagate External Drive so That it Will Back Up to Time Machine?
