~/Library/Saved Application State is possibly no longer being backed up via Time Machine in OS X Yosemite 10.10.2

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~/Library/Saved Application State is possibly no longer being backed up via Time Machine in OS X Yosemite 10.10.2

Dear OS X Yosemite users,

I lost my entire Saved Application State for the Terminal application (windows and tabs), but the ~/Library/Saved Application State folder has always been backed up so I wasn't too worried (been saved by backups a few times before). However, when I went to restore things, I did not find the Saved Application State folder in my Time Machine backup! Fortunately after some more digging, I found a backup, but discovered that the last backup of my ~/Library/Saved Application State folder was from 19 January 2015.

The reason why I think it may not be an isolated problem, is that the OS X 10.10.2 Update came out on 27 January 2015. My next backup after 19 January was 5 February, and the Saved Application State directory hasn't been backed up since.

~/Library/Saved Application State does not show up on my backup exclusion list (last section being user paths) which I looked at in this location:

/System/Library/CoreServices/backupd.bundle/Contents/Resources/StdExclusions.plist

And I found nothing in the release notes or the security notes on this:

https://support.apple.com/kb/DL1785?locale=en_US

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204244

Would someone(s) using OS X Yosemite 10.10.2 (or higher) mind going to their ~/Library/Saved Application State folder, and then look to see when Time Machine last backed it up? Perhaps I am having an isolated problem.

Saved Application States are very nice, especially for the Terminal app. Not only is the window arrangement kept but the whole scrollback, which is very useful for recalling previous procedures. I have been used to being able to get them from backups when things went awry, so I was a little disappointed when I was unable to get a recent backup this time.

If these are no longer being automatically backed up then I will probably start doing them manually.

Lastly, I read online that these Saved Application States may have been automatically uploaded to iCloud Drive. If so, is there any way to access them?

Thank you for any assistance that you can provide!

MacBook Pro (15-inch 2.4/2.2 GHz), OS X Yosemite (10.10.2)

Posted on Apr 8, 2015 1:38 PM

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Answer 1

phxpn Author

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Apr 21, 2015 8:07 AM in response to phxpn

To update, I have colleagues who have confirmed the same issue. Glad to see there are a few others out there who also have this question.

It's not hard to back this up manually, but I don't understand why we would be purposely kept from using Time Machine to back this directory up.

So any insights are still welcome!

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Answer 2

iW00

Level 6

8,500 points

Apr 21, 2015 10:19 AM in response to phxpn

phxpn wrote:

Would someone(s) using OS X Yosemite 10.10.2 (or higher) mind going to their ~/Library/Saved Application State folder, and then look to see when Time Machine last backed it up? Perhaps I am having an isolated problem.

I'm using 10.10.3 and i'm performing an incremental Time Machine Backup at least once a week and ~/Library/Saved Application State folder and its content is included in each of my backups.

phxpn wrote:

Saved Application States are very nice, especially for the Terminal app. Not only is the window arrangement kept but the whole scrollback, which is very useful for recalling previous procedures.

Try to use history command. You won't be able to do a 'whole scrollback' but you will be able to check, what commands you have run on your mac recently.

I suggest to you to check what apps you are using and which of them could have some impact on the Time Machine Backup. Have a look at pondini.org - it's a great resource for troubleshooting TM issues.

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Answer 3

phxpn Author

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Apr 21, 2015 10:51 AM in response to iW00

Thanks for your reply. I'll look at pondini. My colleague is on 10.10.3 but has not noticed this directory being backed up again. I will install 10.10.3 soon and see if things go back to normal.

The history command is good for seeing a list of previous commands, but what I like is having all my Terminal windows and tabs well organized with full scrollback, so I can go back and pick up projects that I have worked on weeks or months before and retrace my steps quickly and easily.

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