macos-sonoma-macbook-pro-time-machine-external-drive

In my 30 years in the IT business, I have been approached by people with tears in their eyes many times, always because of lost data. The things I have been asked to restore include:

  • The only copy of a wedding video
  • A master's thesis
  • Twelve years of lesson plans by a middle school teacher
  • Multiple instances of people's photo libraries

I have been successful in a few cases and I've struck out in others. I preach backing up your stuff to everyone I care about. In this day and age, doing so is relatively easy and straight forward.

If you have a Mac, you should be using Time Machine, even if you have a laptop. All you need is a cheap external drive. Everything else is built in to you computer.

Back up your Mac with Time Machine - Apple Support

If you have a PC, you can back up your data and settings to the cloud (but not your whole hard drive) with built in tools.

Back up your Windows PC - Microsoft Support

To back up your entire hard drive, you need a third party tool. Here are some options.

Best Windows backup software 2024: Free and paid options reviewed | PCWorld

Everyone should use some sort of cloud solution like One Drive, iCloud, Google Drive or Dropbox to back up anything that wouldn't want to lose if their house burnt down. If you don't know how to sign up for these solutions, all of which have a free tier, get some help or pay some one. It's that important. I have been able to keep track oof some of my files since the 1990s, through multiple computers, jobs and houses. Don't lose your important information or memories because you didn't back them up properly.

(Note - if you aren't 100% sure that your photos on your phone are backed up, get someone you trust to verify it for you.)

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