Access locked Time Machine folders on other Mac

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Level 1

8 points

Access locked Time Machine folders on other Mac

My iMac's hard drive died during a software update. I have a Time Machine backup, so plugged that into my MacBook. However, when browsing my TM drive on my Mac, all folders within the user folder are locked (little red circle on them). I need to access files stored in my User's Documents folder.

As the iMac now won't boot, restoring from TM isn't an option, and my MacBook's hard drive isn't big enough to simply copy the Documents folder to and reset permissions that way.

Is there any way I can access individual files within the documents folder?

Any help, greatly appreciated!

iMac 27″, macOS 11.6

Posted on Feb 21, 2022 3:52 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Gary White2 Author

Level 1

8 points

Feb 23, 2022 10:25 AM in response to Gary White2

I've managed to solve my own problem in the end:

Copy the locked folder from the TM hard drive to another hard drive (either internal Mac HD, or other external drive). Once copied, the folder can be unlocked in the usual manner via Get Info.
Create a new admin account on another Mac, sign into the Apple ID that creates the original TM Backup, and the files will be visible. This only work if the Mac is on the same or newer version of Mac OS though (Big Sur in this case).

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Answer 2

Sharon_419

Community Specialist

Feb 22, 2022 12:31 PM in response to Gary White2

Hey Gary White2,

Thank you for using the Apple Support Communities! We understand you're seeing that your folders are locked when accessing the Time Machine backup from your iMac on your MacBook. We'll see if we can help with this.

Have you tried secondary clicking on the folders, then clicking Get Info to see if they can be unlocked? Get file, folder, and disk information on Mac

Best regards.

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