Apple ’s iCloud is an easy to use solution for backing up pic , videos , document and other important data from your iPhone , iPad and Mac . you may take to various storage plan from £ 0.79/$0.99 a month to £ 6.99/$9.99 a month for 2 TB .
It is possible to make a concluded system backup of iPads and iPhones in iCloud and then use this backup to set up a new equipment with all the data and aphttps://www.macworld.com/article/668696/best-mac-backup-software.htmlps that were on your old equipment .
It ’s intelligible , therefore , that many Mac users enquire if they can back up their Mac to iCloud in the same way .
If you were hoping to backup your Mac to iCloud we ’re here to explain what you’re able to , and ca n’t , do .
Can I back up my Mac to iCloud?
The answer to this interrogation look on whether you need to back up your Mac or just store your content in the cloud . There ’s a big difference between backing up and syncing capacity .
Every Mac , iPad and iPhone has memory access to an iCloud Drive . you may set your Mac to sync all everything on your Desktop and Documents folder to the cloud . This fashion every document you function on that is save in either of those two location will be available on all of your Apple devices .
This is ready to hand if you apply more than one Mac , if your Mac stop working , or if you lose or replace your Mac , because you’re able to access all the files that are synced to iCloud .
If all you wanted to do was make a copy of some data file and store it in iCloud you could well create a folder on your Desktop and copy all the files into it , after which the files would upload to the cloud where they would reside , rather than on your Mac .
However , it ’s not a backup because if you delete something that is in iCloud you could not recover it . Nor is it a ringer of your Mac that you could recover from if you had to wipe your Mac .
To make a true backup man of your Mac you would need to employ Time Machine or a similar resolution . ( See our round up of thebest backup software for Mac ) .
Time Machine is the built - in backup feature film that comes with a Mac . If you create a Time Machine backup you could apply it to recover your Mac if you wipe it due to a trouble or if you grease one’s palms a new one and want to place it up exactly the same .
Time Machine also stool hourly , daily , and hebdomadary backups so you could use your Time Machine stand-in to go back to a former version of a document , or to recover something you have cancel . Readhow to back up your Mac with Time Machine .
The problem with Time Machine is that it requires a big international storage gimmick – your Time Machine drive necessitate much more storage place than your Mac . It ’s no curiosity that people who are paying Apple for 2 TB of iCloud space are wondering whether they can utilise Time Machine to backup their Mac to iCloud .
And this is where we hate to let down you , but the answer is no . you may not presently use iCloud for a Time Machine backup . We do really hope that changes though . Fingers traverse formacOS 12 .
What does iCloud back up?
As we explained above , you ca n’t expend iCloud to make a Time Machine backup of your Mac , but it does offer quite a lot in terms of the files it can lay in :
How to store Desktop & Documents folder in iCloud
By setting up your Mac so that everything you are working on is lay in in the cloud you could save a lot of space on your Mac and easy access all your files from any gadget .
Do remember though that this is n’t a back up – unless you make a physical written matter of the files yourself . If you erase a written document or save over it you wo n’t be able to recover the old reading .
Now the Desktop will be identical on every Mac you use , so if you make unnecessary documents , prototype , screenshots and anything else here you will be capable to get at it on your other Mac – handy if you have a Mac at home and one at work .
How to store photos in iCloud
With iCloud Photo Library move around on every photo or picture you have in the Photos app on your Mac will be stash away in iCloud , along with all the photos in your Photos app on your iPhone and iPad .
If you have a deal of photos taking up space on your Mac this is a cracking way to recover some space because you may reassign the full - res version to the cloud and hive away only thumbnails on the Mac until you ask them .
you could set up iCloud Photo Library in the Photos app on your Mac .
This Optimise Mac Storage selection will intend that the original , high - Ra interpretation of your photos are stored in iCloud rather than on your Mac .
However , you should be aware that this is not a suitable way to back up your picture program library if you were hop that once your photo were in iCloud you could erase them from your Mac . If you were to delete a pic from your Mac you would also delete it from iCloud .
iCloud Photo Library is only really an option if you have adequate space in iCloud to hive away the photos . If you do n’t fancy pay to store 100s of GBs of figure of speech in the cloud then you might like to consider using My Photo Stream as an alternative .
As we explain iniCloud Photo Library or My Photo Stream : Which is better?Apple allows you to store the the most recent 1,000 photos or the last 30 days of icon in iCloud for free , which mean you may access them on all your devices .
This means that if the tough hap you should always have a backup of the last 30 day or photos , or your last 1,000 exposure , which ever is greater .
How to store music in iCloud
Music , like photo , could be taking up a flock of space on your Mac . In which case you might be glad to learn that you could lay in all your euphony in iCloud .
To check that your medicine library syncs to the swarm perform these actions :
What doesn’t iCloud back up?
As we outlined above , you wo n’t be able to store a Time Machine backup or a dead ringer of your system in iCloud . This means that any options or predilection you may have set up on your Mac , wo n’t make it to another Mac via iCloud . That would involve a Time Machine support .
The same is true of any apps or medium not buy on the App Store or iTunes store , unless you make a written matter of them in your iCloud Drive .
If you want a complete ringer of your Mac , then you ’ll either want to setup a Time Machine backing or practice one of the package included in our roundup of thebest backup software for Mac .
How to see what is backed up in iCloud
you could investigate what is being synced to iCloud by see your Apple ID preferences in System Preferences :
Of course , you could also create new folders and drag other single file into iCloud Drive if you want . Although , be sure that you have enough storage available in iCloud to accommodate the things you need to impart . If there is n’t , then readhow to increase your iCloud storage .
Any apps , music , motion-picture show or TV shows you ’ve bought on the App Store or iTunes Store will also be attached to your iCloud account , so you ’ll be able to easily install them on a unexampled Mac just as you would with an iPhone .
How to access iCloud on a Mac
Wondering where the iCloud folder is on your Mac ? It ’s known as the iCloud Drive and you could find it in the Finder .
launch the Finder and scroll down the column on the left and you ’ll find it under iCloud .
You ’ll see the iCloud Drive as well as your Desktop and Documents folder here ( if they are in the cloud ) .
This can be a bit confusing because you may assume your Pages documents , for example , will be located in Documents , but they are actually in the Pages folder in iCloud Drive . You could employ the Documents folder to store other files and folders that are n’t link up with Apple apps that are automatically synced to iCloud .
If you want to pull through something to iCloud verify you choose one of these iCloud locations – Desktop , Documents , or one of the pamphlet in iCloud Drive . The folder will have iCloud next to it .
What’s the best way to back up my Mac?
There ’s an old adage in digital protection that locomote along the lines of “ if you only have something backed up once , then it is n’t plump for up at all ” . The principle being that you should always have multiple backup man of important files , just in casing you have a disaster with your machine , only to find out that the solitary backup you were hoping would redeem you has also fail or become corrupted .
With this in mind , we would urge a full system backup ( such as Time Machine ) that you run regularly , plus using cloud store solutions ( such as iCloud ) to make extra copy of single file .
You ’ll find more details on the effective methods of achieving this in ourhow to back up a Macarticle . Of course , you do n’t have to use iCloud , as there are also plenty of other alternatives , such as those we spotlight in our template to thebest Cloud storage services for Mac . Ideally , signalize up to several and keep your files on all of them . This should mean that if the worst happens , you ’ll have batch of options to recover your treasured data .
