- To see the size of a specific file or folder, click it once and then press Command-I. To see storage information about your Mac, click the Apple menu in the top-left of your screen. Choose About This Mac and click the Storage tab. For Time Machine backups, it's good to use a drive that has at least twice the storage capacity of your Mac.
- Time Machine, macOS's built-in back up utility, is one of the simplest backup programs around.Here's a tip that a lot of people don't know, though: even if your Time Machine drive isn't connected to your Mac, it can still protect your files.
If you made a Time Machine backup of your Mac, Migration Assistant can use that backup to restore your personal files, including apps and everything in your user account.
If you prefer to restore just a few files or earlier versions of those files, learn how to use Time Machine to restore specific files.
Use Migration Assistant
Well then, here you go. This article explains how you can back up Mac OS data without Time Machine. External storage device: This is one of the most common methods to backup Mac data without setting up Time Machine. You have to manually back up data to an external hard drive or USB drive. Connect the external hard drive or USB disk to the Mac. Plug your external hard drive into your Mac. Attach the USB end of the hard drive's cable to one of your Mac's USB ports, then attach the other end to the hard drive. Most modern Macs have USB-C (also known as Thunderbolt) ports rather than traditional USB 3.0 ports. The Apple Time Capsule seemed like a great idea when it was unveiled about a decade ago. It was a Time Machine network backup target that also embedded a Wi-Fi gateway and ethernet sharing.
- If you need to reinstall macOS, do that before continuing. For example, if your Mac starts up to a flashing question mark, you need to first reinstall macOS.
- Make sure that your Time Machine backup disk is connected to your Mac and turned on.
- Open Migration Assistant on your Mac. It's in the Utilities folder of your Applications folder.
If your Mac starts up to a setup assistant, which asks for details like your country and network, continue to the next step, because the setup assistant includes a migration assistant. - When asked how you want to transfer your information, select the option to transfer from a Mac, Time Machine backup, or startup disk. Then click Continue.
- Select your Time Machine backup, then click Continue.
- Choose a backup and click Continue.
- Select the information to transfer.
In this example, John Appleseed is a macOS user account. If it has the same name as an account already on your Mac, you're prompted to either rename the old account or replace the one on your Mac. If you rename, the old account will appear as a separate user on your Mac, with a separate home folder and login. If you replace, the old account will delete and then replace the account on your Mac, including everything in its home folder. - Click Continue to start the transfer. Large transfers might need several hours to complete.
If you need help, please contact Apple Support.
Learn more
Time Machine will not be helpful if you don't have an external hard drive to use it to create a backup of all of your files on Mac. However, at this time, you are able to recover deleted files on Mac from Mac Trash or using a professional Mac data recovery tool. EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac is available here to restore your Mac data without Time Machine backup.
This page offers two practical methods to help you effectively restore deleted or lost Mac files without using Time Machine and even offer a bonus tip to help you back up Mac data efficiently.
- Method 1. Recover Deleted Files on Mac from Trash [Not Emptied]
- Method 2. Restore Deleted Mac Files Using Mac Data Recovery Software - EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac
How to Recover Deleted Files on Mac without Time Machine
'I have accidentally deleted some photos from my Mac on macOS Catalina. I don't have a backup using Time Machine, yet I would still like to try to recover the lost files. How can I do that now without Time Machine?'
Time Machine, the built-in backup application on Mac, enables you to automatically back up all of your files, including apps, music, photos, email, documents, and system files to an external storage device. You can optionally set up a backup plan on Mac by hourly, daily, and even weekly backups. With a backup, you can easily restore Mac files lost due to unexpected system problems, hardware failure, virus attack, and other reasons.
However, most of us don't have a large enough storage device to save the entire Mac backup or fail to maintain regular backup with Time Machine. Don't worry and try the following two practical methods to recover deleted files on Mac without Time Machine and a bonus tip to back up your Mac data.
Note that each method applies to restore lost files from different data loss cases, read through this page and pick up the right method to bring your lost Mac files back now.
Method 1. Recover Deleted Files on Mac from Trash [Not Emptied]
Applies to: Undelete Mac files that were removed to the Trash by mistake; Restore deleted files from Mac Trash without Time Machine.
Step 1. Double-click to open the Trash bin on Mac desktop.
You will see all the deleted files listed in the Trash bin.
Step 2. Locate and right-click the files that you want to recover and select 'Put Back'.
The selected files will be recovered to the original location on your Mac. Don't worry if you have emptied the Mac Trash bin. You can refer to Method 2 and apply a reliable Mac file recovery software to restore all the deleted files from Mac without Time Machine.
Method 2. Restore Mac Deleted Files (without Time Machine) Using Data Recovery Software
Applies to: Recover Mac deleted files after emptying the Trash, restore permanently deleted files, lost files due to deletion, formatting, and other reasons.
EaseUS Data Recovery Master for Mac is known for its high data recovery rate in restoring lost, or inaccessible data on your MacBook, iMac, hard drive, USB, camera, memory card, SD card, and other storage devices in worse scenarios.
With it, you recover data on Mac without Time Machine in three steps: specify the location > scan > preview and retrieve. Firefox mac os x. If your lost files are less than 2GB, it would be better for you to use the free version of EaseUS Mac Data Recovery.
Go through the steps listed below to bring your Mac files back immediately:
Step 1. Select the disk location (it can be an internal HDD/SSD or a removable storage device) where you lost data and files. Click the 'Scan' button.
Step 2. EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac will immediately scan your selected disk volume and display the scanning results on the left pane.
Step 3. In the scan results, select the file(s) and click the 'Recover Now' button to have them back.
Bonus Tip: Back Up Mac Data without Time Machine
Applies to: Create a backup of Mac data without using Time Machine.
Besides finding reliable methods to recover deleted Mac files, another practical way that you can apply to protect your Mac data is to create a backup. Instead of Time Machine, we'd like to offer you a trustworthy & efficient Mac data backup tool to help you fully back up Mac data with ease.
#1. Download & Install Reliable Mac Backup Tool - EaseUS Todo Backup for Mac
EaseUS Todo Backup for Mac is a piece of efficient Mac backup software that supports Mac users to back up their data on Mac computer in four modes - Mac Data Backup, Backup Archive, Disk Clone, and File Sync.
How To Back Up My Mac
#2. Back Up Mac Data without Time Machine
Step 1. Launch EaseUS Mac backup software, click the first Backup tab > Click + button at the left corner of the left pane to create a backup project - name the backup project and click OK.
Step 2. Set up the backup destination where you want to store Mac files as backups, automatically backup frequency, etc. and click OK. Here, if you want to save the back image to an external hard drive, please connect it to Mac in step 1.
Step 3. Click File+ to selectively choose files and folders to backup and click the blue start button to backup your data now.
With the backup, you can always immediately bring lost files back on Mac.
Conclusion & Recover Mac Deleted Files FAQs
On this page, we collected two practical methods to help you recover deleted Mac files from Mac Trash or using professional Mac file recovery software without Time Machine. If you need a complete Mac data backup tool, EaseUS Todo Backup for Mac is qualified to help you out. With this comprehensive Mac data backup software, you can always immediately restore deleted or lost files on Mac in minutes.
Besides Mac deleted file recovery without Time Machine, some people also asked some related questions online. Here we collected top 4 concerning questions and left a brief answer below each question. If you are having the same doubts as listed below, check out the answers there immediately:
1. How can I recover permanently deleted files from Mac without software? How to get free excel on mac.
When you permanently deleted files on Mac but don't want to use any software to restore the files, you have two ways to undelete those files:
One is to recover permanently deleted files from Time Machine or a local backup on your Mac device. The other practical way is to restore deleted files from Cloud account if you have uploaded or saved valuable files there in advance.
2. Is it possible to recover deleted files on Mac?
Yes. When you deleted files on Mac, you can first try Mac Trash recovery. If nothing was found, reliable Mac file recovery software such as EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard is qualified to help. Or you can even restore deleted files from Time Machine backup.
Mac Backup Programs
Mac print screen shortcut. 3. How do I recover an unsaved pages document without Time Machine?
By accident, you closed an unsaved Pages document which contains a lot of important notes. Or, carelessly, you lost or deleted a Pages document that you desperately need. To recover your unsaved pages documents on your Mac, you can go to Finder and have a try. While to recover a lost/deleted Pages document, you can do it successfully with the help of EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard, the powerful and popular data recovery tool, or Time Machine.
For a step-by-step guide, you may refer to Recover Unsaved Pages Documents on Mac for help.
4. How to restore Mac to previous date wthout Time Machine?
Backup Mac To External Drive
If you have a Time Machine backup which contains the snapshot backup of your Mac startup disk, Mac restoration is possible with the Time Machine to a previous date.
However, if you don't have any backup available, you cannot restore a working copy of your macOS. Therefore, if you need to create a backup image of macOS, using Time Machine to backup your Mac. If you lost a Time Machine backup, refer to Recover Deleted Time Machine Backup for help.
Restore Os X Without Disk
The good news is that when you lost data on Mac without a Time Machine bakcup, you still can recover the lost files and data using professional data recovery software - EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac.
