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Does Time Machine respect HFS drives after upgrading to High Sierra or later?

If my macOS isn't yet on APFS, but I upgrade to High Sierra or Monterey, can I still access my Time Machine backup in HFS?

MacBook Pro 13″, OS X 10.11

Posted on Mar 26, 2022 7:58 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Mar 27, 2022 2:22 AM

Suggestion if moving that far up the macOS food chain to Big Sur or Monterey- put aside the existing Time Machine Backup Drive for Safe Keeping.


Start with a New External Drive formatted to APFS for Big Sur or Monterey.


In so doing, this will increase the chances of Reverting back to High Sierra is doable using the Older TM Backup Drive - should it be needed or required.

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Mar 27, 2022 2:22 AM in response to CindyLV

Suggestion if moving that far up the macOS food chain to Big Sur or Monterey- put aside the existing Time Machine Backup Drive for Safe Keeping.


Start with a New External Drive formatted to APFS for Big Sur or Monterey.


In so doing, this will increase the chances of Reverting back to High Sierra is doable using the Older TM Backup Drive - should it be needed or required.

Does Time Machine respect HFS drives after upgrading to High Sierra or later?

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