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User profile for user: b j t
b j t Author
User level: Level 4
3,698 points

Will Time Machine also back up my Mail accounts and Safari settings?

Will Time Machine also back up my Mail accounts and Safari settings?

I have set up my email using Mail, but want to know if Time Machine will also be saving the account details of my email account settings, and Safari history, as I don't want someone else being able to restore my Time Machine backup, and being able to access my email accounts, or Safari history also.

If they are backed up, how do I delete that part of the backup?

Mac mini (Late 2012), OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.3), 2.6 GHz, 16 GB RAM, 1 TB Fusion.

Posted on Apr 23, 2013 3:39 AM

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User profile for user: sanny25
sanny25
User level: Level 1
20 points

Posted on Apr 23, 2013 3:47 AM

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1427


Hope this will work for you......

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User profile for user: R C-R
R C-R
User level: Level 6
17,782 points

Apr 23, 2013 4:31 AM in response to b j t

Yes, Time Machine stores everything that you don't explicitly exclude in its Privacy pane (except for various temporary files & a few other items like system logs that it doesn't save regardless of the settings).


If you are worried about someone else gaining access to your TM data, Mountain Lion now gives you the option to encrypt the entire backup, which is a better & more goof-proof way to prevent that than trying to find & exclude every file that might contain sensitive info you want to keep private.

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User profile for user: R C-R
R C-R
User level: Level 6
17,782 points

Apr 23, 2013 6:02 AM in response to b j t

No. That just stops the backup of those two applications, not the data they store in your system.


And before you ask, I'm not certain where all that data is stored, other than that most of it should be somewhere in your home folder. The OS has become very complex of late, cross-linking a lot of data so that different apps can use it.


That's why I suggested encrypting the entire TM backup -- it is designed to accomplish what you want in the most secure way possible.

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User profile for user: b j t
b j t Author
User level: Level 4
3,698 points

Apr 23, 2013 6:15 AM in response to R C-R

I'm not certain where all that data is stored, other than that most of it should be somewhere in your home folder. The OS has become very complex of late, cross-linking a lot of data so that different apps can use it.

That is why I thought I would ask the Community to see what others had to say about this.

So that I don't do anything I shouldn't.

That's why I suggested encrypting the entire TM backup -- it is designed to accomplish what you want in the most secure way possible.

I will use the encrypted backup method yo protect my files/data.

Will save me worrying about doing something that may make things go pear shaped.


Thank you all for your help and advice. 😀,

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Will Time Machine also back up my Mail accounts and Safari settings?

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