Recovering Single File from 2015

You should find the answer at Pondini's Time Machine FAQ for help with Time Machine.

Abrasrose wrote:

Hello Kappy,

#17 does seem to apply to my question, but it doesn't appear to have been updated for El Capitan. It refers to actions that I can't perform anymore with El Capitan. For example, I can't right click on the Time Machine icon in the Dock since there is no icon in the dock. Is there an updated page?

Thanks!

The author of that page died some time ago.

You can add Time Machine to the Dock if you want it there, just grab it from /Applications & drag it to the Dock (or drag & drop from Launchpad).

The same option is available in the Time Machine menu, hold 'alt' (a.k.a. option) & select the relevant 'Browse other…' option.

Podini's Time Machine pages have not been updated since his untimely death.

But that section is still applicable as written:

I can't right click on the Time Machine icon in the Dock since there is no icon in the dock.

when any Application is running, you can keep its Icon in the Dock by right-clicking on the Icon and choosing "Keep in Dock".

any Application that is not running can be dragged from the /Applications or /Applications/Utilities folder to any place in the Applications section of the dock (above or to the left of the divider).

Control-Clicking the Icon in the dock may have been eliminated in later versions. Try Alt/Option-click the Time Machine Icon in the menuBar:

To see these "other" backups, you need the Browse Other Backup Disks or (Browse Other Time Machine Diskson Snow Leopard or Leopard) option. It's available by Alt/Option-clicking the Time Machine icon in your Menubar, or by control-clicking (right-clicking) the Time Machine icon in your Dock.

Abrasrose wrote:

I have two back up drives that I used in 2015 and earlier and I need to search them for a particular file.

…

How do I view my earlier backups and why can't I see them?

You can confirm the age of the oldest backup on a Time Machine disk as follows…

Connect the disk, open 'System Preferences > Time Machine'.

Next to the disk will be the 'Oldest backup' date.

If it that date is after 2015 you may have had older backups deleted - Time Machine doesn't keep everything forever. It will remove older data to make way for new files.

It may explain why you are having a tough time finding things but at present it just looks like you are getting caught up in how to use Time Machine.