User profile for user: Larry Israel
Larry Israel Author
User level: Level 1
86 points

If I set up a new Time Machine drive, do I lose ability to acess files from my old drive?

  1. A few years back, when I moved from a Mac with a spinning drive, to one with SSD, I could not restore all my Time Machine backup to the new computer. There was not enough room.
  2. So I restored my most essential files over to the new Macbook Air and stopped backing up to that disk. Since then I have done back ups manually.
  3. I want (or at least I think I want) to set up a new Time Machine disk. I will be buying a new Mac in the next few months, and I want to make it easy to get all current files transferred over. I also believe the capacity on the newer SSDs is now big enough for all my files.
  4. My question is, if I set up a new disk for Time Machine backups, will I lose the ability to access the files on the old Time Machine backup? I realize it may be a manual process, bringing things in off the old backup, but that is ok with me. I just can't lose those older files. (Some would argue that if I've not needed those files in a couple of years, that I don't really need them. But for my work, I must retain them.)
  5. My work does not allow use of online (iCloud) storage even temporarily. So whatever I do, it will all have to be local.


Thanks for any help you can give me!

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 10.14

Posted on Apr 13, 2025 12:48 PM

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User profile for user: TheLittles
TheLittles
User level: Level 10
199,780 points

Apr 13, 2025 2:12 PM in response to Larry Israel

"If I set up a new Time Machine drive, do I lose ability to acess files from my old drive?:"

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TMBs Vs. Exported Items:

To back up a Mac with TMB, you'd need to format the drive. As you create new TMBs, older ones will be deleted (which is a reason to get an external hard drive with extensive storage). As for browsing through the TMBs, you'd have to go through Finder, or use Migration Assistant.


So, Export Items:

You should backup items such as your Music Playlists, Photos Library, eMail Mailboxes and much more on and external hard drive.



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User profile for user: John Galt
John Galt
User level: Level 10
150,896 points

Apr 13, 2025 2:16 PM in response to Larry Israel

The difference between them is frequently misunderstood. Time Machine guarantees, at a minimum, one and only one backup of its source volume's contents. That means if you have a document on your Mac, TM backs it up, and it will retain as many subsequent backups or revisions to that document as space permits. But if you delete that document from the source volume, Time Machine concludes you no longer need it, and its backups then become candidates for deletion when TM needs the space they occupy for newer backups. The oldest backups are the first to be deleted.


The only reason for bringing that up was your comment about being required to retain copies of documents. Document retention implies a need to be retained in a manner that assures they do not become deleted.

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User profile for user: Larry Israel
Larry Israel Author
User level: Level 1
86 points

Apr 13, 2025 1:38 PM in response to John Galt

Thank you for answering that question! That is good to know!


Could you please clarify: "Be advised Time Machine is not an archival system."?


Maybe I don't understand the difference between an archival system and a back up. I keep multiple back ups, both Time Machine and manual, and at least one copy is stored off site. (Manual meaning I drag folders from the computer hard drive to an external hard drive.)


Thank you again!

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If I set up a new Time Machine drive, do I lose ability to acess files from my old drive?

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