I have a iMac computer and I am huge fan of Time Machine. I back-up my iMac several times each day when the external hard drive with time machine is plugged in. At the end of each day, I eject the external hard drive and unplug it. Is this best practice or could I keep the external hard drive connected all the time?
Any thoughts and best practice advice would be gratefully received. Thanks.
Probably more of a personal preference than anything else.
It's completely safe to keep it connected. When you shut down your Mac, macOS automatically ejects the drive during the shutdown procedure. Most modern drives (SSDs as well as HDDs) then sleep after the Mac shuts down. If yours is an HDD and it doesn't sleep, then yes, go ahead and unplug it.
In my case, I have 3 external drives (used to be HDDs but now are all SSDs). They are all plugged into the same surge suppressor as my iMac. After I shut down my Mac, I turn off the surge suppressor so none of the equipment remains powered overnight. Have done this with many Macs over many years. Have never had a problem.
Well, for full disclosure, on one of my iMacs, after 12+ years, I had to replace the PRAM battery. That was a $1.00 fix.
Probably more of a personal preference than anything else.
It's completely safe to keep it connected. When you shut down your Mac, macOS automatically ejects the drive during the shutdown procedure. Most modern drives (SSDs as well as HDDs) then sleep after the Mac shuts down. If yours is an HDD and it doesn't sleep, then yes, go ahead and unplug it.
In my case, I have 3 external drives (used to be HDDs but now are all SSDs). They are all plugged into the same surge suppressor as my iMac. After I shut down my Mac, I turn off the surge suppressor so none of the equipment remains powered overnight. Have done this with many Macs over many years. Have never had a problem.
Well, for full disclosure, on one of my iMacs, after 12+ years, I had to replace the PRAM battery. That was a $1.00 fix.
Ejecting is better: less wear & tear, less energy, longer life, better reliability 👍👌
Thanks for your very comprehensive response, that is interesting to know.
Sometimes I forget to eject and unplug before closing down and later switch on without remembering to unplug the external hard drive. It's good to know that it's not doing any harm to my iMac. Thanks again.
External hard drive - plugged in all the time?
