Why does my MacBook Pro still show 'not backed up for almost 3 years' after a recent backup?

Do you have an old TimeMachine drive before?

System Settings --> General --> Time Machine -->

You can highlight the OLD drive, then remove that from the TimeMachine drives entry. (As you can see, I have 2 TimeMachine drives for backups).

Best

Debru4 wrote:

I have the external drive partitioned with my old MacBook backed up on the other partition as well as a some videos of my kids' in musical productions. Could this have contributed to what seemed to be renaming of the drive, even though I don't recall doing so after I initially named each partition?

Yes, this drive with multiple partitions could have contributed to the problem. TM will recognize the partition previously used by the old MacBook - apparently "Debbies MacBook Pro" - and attempt to use it or ask to claim it. This part of TM doesn't really differentiate between a drive device and a drive volume.

Ideally it's best to designate an entire external drive to only TM backups or storage of other data. To mix the two risks the loss of both when the drive fails. A TM b/u drive should be 2x-3x the total capacity of the startup drive.

I appreciate your advice and will delete all but the one that is currently saving. If all else fails, I can erase the drive and start over, although that is always such a lengthy process. Thanks again!

Starting over is sometimes the best option.

You're welcome.

It seems that maybe you changed the name of the drive you use for your TM backups... several times. Or that you are simply using or used different drive(s) at different times. Time Machine is simply telling you "Hey, heads up. I haven't seen this other drive for a while!"

As @samtenor posted above, you should simply delete the drive(s) that you no longer use to backup your computer. It appears to me that the only one currently in use is "My Passport 2021...", so yes, you can delete the top two for sure.

The warning ⚠️ about "Passport Macbook Pro" indicates just what it says. TM sees that there is already a backup set on that drive created by another computer. The question is: do you want this current computer to claim the existing backup as its own and now continue to backup to that disk?

If you believe you need whatever data is on it, then yes, Claim Existing Backup. Otherwise, decide later and then remove this drive also from the TM list.

This should now leave you with a single backup drive, "My Passport 2021..." that should keep TM happy.

Yes, those two icons are the two partitions on your external drive. FYI, a single drive can have many (!) partitions, limited only by its capacity. This can be useful in some situations, but can also become confusing if you let it get out of hand.

Yes, if you erase the disk both partitions will be merged back into one. Barring something unusual there won't be anything else to do. When you open Disk Utility to erase the drive, make sure you click View > Show All Devices so that you can locate and select the particular external device to erase and not just a drive volume, which is indented below the device.

Erase and reformat a storage device in Disk Utility on Mac - Apple Support

APFS or APFS Encrypted disks are the preferred format for a Time Machine backup disk. The encryption option ensures that anyone who does not have the password cannot access the data on the drive. This includes you if you forget the password! Your Mac will ask if you want it to save the password for you so you don't have to enter it every time you boot the computer. It's great security should a drive be stolen or go walkabout.

You're welcome. 🙏🏽