External hard drive instructions

Your Mac can still do backups when asleep (lid open or closed):

From Apple Mac Help for Ventura -

"Power Nap, available on Mac computers with flash memory, lets some Mac computers stay up to date even while they’re sleeping. When your Mac goes to sleep, Power Nap activates periodically to update information. The information that’s updated depends on whether your Mac is running on battery power (a Mac laptop) or plugged into a power adapter (a Mac laptop or desktop computer).

When your Mac is asleep and using battery power, Power Nap:

• Checks for new messages in Mail
• Updates events in Calendar
• Updates other iCloud events

When your Mac is plugged into a power adapter, Power Nap can also do activities such as downloading software updates and performing Time Machine backups."

"If your Mac supports it, Power Nap is on by default when your Mac is plugged into a power adapter. You can easily change Power Nap settings.

Turn Power Nap on or off for a Mac laptop

1. On your Mac, choose Apple menu  > System Settings, then click Battery in the sidebar. (You may need to scroll down.)
2. Open Battery settings for me
3. Click Options on the right, click the pop-up menu next to Enable Power Nap, then choose an option."

Hi,

You can clone bootable back up with Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper! to external drive via USB-A to USB-A.