restore time machine back up to a new hard drive

Good post but I don't understand why I have to create a user account that uses a different user name than the name of my user account in my TM backup? It isn't clear what changing the account name accomplishes here and I prefer not to change it. Anyone shed some light on this?

Yes ! You have to restore the original OS first !

When your Mac eventually starts up, you’ll see a window named OS X Utilities.

Choose the option to install OS X. This will install the version of OS X that originally came with your Mac. Wait for the installation to finish.

After the OS X install finishes, create a user account that uses a different name then the name of your user account in your Time Machine backup.

Go to your Applications folder and open the App Store. Login using your AppleID and then click on Purchases.

Install the version of OS X that your Mac was using when you made your Time Machine backup.

Now that OS X has been installed on your new hard drive, it’s time to restore everything from Time Machine !

Again, turn on your Mac and hold down Command-R. Your Mac will now startup from it’s Recovery Partition that was created on your Mac’s new hard drive.

You’ll see the OS X Utilities:

• Choose the Restore From Time Machine option.
• Click Continue until you’re prompted to Select a Backup Source.
• Select your Time Machine drive as the source and click Continue.
• In the Select A Destination window choose your Mac’s hard drive.

Wait for the restore to be performed. It could take several hours if you have hundreds of gigabytes of data.

Finally restart your Mac, as needed, and then login to your restored user account.

Have fun ! 😁

Hi Tim,

You just need to hold down Cmd-Opt-R on restart !

It will boot into Internet Recovery where you will be able to install the OS that shipped on your device.

From there you also will be able to restore your Time Machine backup.

Hope this will help,

Cheers !

If you use Setup Assistant, you don't have to create a new user.