How Time Machine Backups Work When using iCloud

Summary

This video from MacMost.com explains the interaction between Time Machine backups and iCloud Drive's 'Optimize Mac Storage' feature. When 'Optimize Mac Storage' is turned off, all files are stored locally and on Apple's server, ensuring complete Time Machine backups. With it turned on, less frequently accessed files may be off-loaded, leading to incomplete backups for those files. However, the video argues that most users are still well-protected, as Time Machine backs up recently accessed and changed files, and iCloud Drive retains all files. It also covers recovery strategies for different scenarios, including catastrophes and accidental deletions.

Takeaways

• 📦 iCloud Drive has two modes: 'Optimize Mac Storage' Off or On, affecting how files are stored locally and on Apple's servers.
• 🔄 With 'Optimize Mac Storage' turned Off, all files in the Documents folder are stored both locally and on Apple's servers.
• 📁 When 'Optimize Mac Storage' is On, files not recently accessed may be off-loaded from the local drive but remain on Apple's servers.
• 💾 Time Machine backs up everything locally, including files in iCloud Drive, when 'Optimize Mac Storage' is Off.
• 🚫 Time Machine can only back up files that are fully present locally when 'Optimize Mac Storage' is On; off-loaded files without content cannot be backed up.
• 🆕 Creating new files with Time Machine and 'Optimize Mac Storage' On will back up the files as long as they are present on the Mac.
• 🔄 Time Machine only backs up files when there is a change; unmodified off-loaded files are not backed up repeatedly.
• 🔄 If a file is updated, it will be downloaded, become recently accessed, and subsequently backed up by Time Machine.
• 🗑️ Accidentally deleting a file that has not been accessed since starting Time Machine backup with 'Optimize Mac Storage' On may result in unrecoverable data loss.
• 🛑 In case of data loss, restoring from Time Machine and signing into iCloud can recover most files, but not those not accessed since the backup started.
• 💡 For important files not recently accessed, manually downloading them ensures they are present locally and can be backed up by Time Machine.

Q & A

What is the main topic of the video script?

The main topic of the video script is the interaction between Time Machine backups and iCloud Drive, particularly focusing on the 'Optimize Mac Storage' feature.

What are the two modes of iCloud Drive mentioned in the script?

The two modes of iCloud Drive mentioned are 'Off' and 'On' for the 'Optimize Mac Storage' feature in System Preferences.

What happens to files stored in iCloud Drive when 'Optimize Mac Storage' is turned Off?

When 'Optimize Mac Storage' is turned Off, 100% of the files in your Documents folder in iCloud Drive are stored both locally on your Mac and on Apple's server.

How does Time Machine handle backups when 'Optimize Mac Storage' is Off?

Time Machine backs up everything locally, including all files in your User Folder that are outside of iCloud Drive and all files within iCloud Drive, since they are all present on the local Mac.

What visual indication is there for files that have been off-loaded from the local Mac due to 'Optimize Mac Storage' being turned On?

Files that have been off-loaded appear to be present but are actually empty, and they have a Cloud icon with an arrow pointing down, indicating that the content is missing and needs to be downloaded.

Why would Time Machine not be able to back up certain files when 'Optimize Mac Storage' is turned On?

Time Machine cannot back up certain files when 'Optimize Mac Storage' is turned On because those files might have been off-loaded from the local Mac and only their empty envelopes remain, with the actual content missing.

What is the recommended action if you need a 100% local backup of all your files?

To ensure a 100% local backup, you should have a large enough local drive to hold all your data and turn Off the 'Optimize Mac Storage' feature.

How does Time Machine handle new files created with 'Optimize Mac Storage' turned On?

Time Machine backs up new files as they are created and present on the local Mac. Even if these files are off-loaded later, they are still backed up initially.

What is the importance of Time Machine's backup mechanism in relation to file changes?

Time Machine backs up files only when there is a change. It does not back up the same unmodified file repeatedly.

What is the potential risk of losing a file if Time Machine and 'Optimize Mac Storage' are used together?

The potential risk is that if a file is created, off-loaded, and then deleted before it is accessed again and backed up by Time Machine, it could be permanently lost.

How can you ensure that important files are backed up by Time Machine even when using 'Optimize Mac Storage'?

You can manually download important files to ensure they are present locally, or access them to trigger an on-demand download, making them available for Time Machine to back up.

What are the three main scenarios when you would need to use your Time Machine backup?

The three main scenarios are: a catastrophe where your Mac is lost or damaged, the need to revert to an old version of a file, and accidental deletion of a file.

How does the script suggest recovering files in the case of a catastrophe while using iCloud Drive and Time Machine?

In a catastrophe, you would restore local files with Time Machine and then sign into iCloud to access all files that were on iCloud Drive, including those not backed up by Time Machine.

What is the script's perspective on the necessity of having a large local drive to avoid using 'Optimize Mac Storage'?

The script suggests that while having a large local drive ensures a 100% backup, most users are covered most of the time with 'Optimize Mac Storage' turned On, and manual intervention can be used for critical files.

Outlines

00:00

💾 Understanding iCloud Drive and Time Machine Backups

In this paragraph, Gary from MacMost.com explains the relationship between Time Machine backups and iCloud Drive. He discusses the two modes of iCloud Drive: 'Optimize Mac Storage' turned off or on. When 'Optimize Mac Storage' is off, all files are stored both locally on the Mac and on Apple's servers. When turned on, files not recently accessed may be off-loaded from the local drive, appearing to be there but lacking content until downloaded. Time Machine, when used, backs up everything locally, including files within and outside of iCloud Drive. However, if 'Optimize Mac Storage' is on, Time Machine can only back up files that are fully present on the local drive.

05:03

🔄 Impact of Optimize Mac Storage on Time Machine Backups

This section delves into how Time Machine handles backups when 'Optimize Mac Storage' is enabled. Gary explains that Time Machine will only back up files that are currently present on the local drive. Files that have been off-loaded and not accessed recently will not be backed up because they appear to be there but are essentially empty until the content is downloaded. He also discusses the implications of this setup, such as the inability to recover a deleted file that was never locally present after the Time Machine backup started. However, Gary points out that in most cases, users are still getting nearly complete backups, even with 'Optimize Mac Storage' turned on.

10:06

🛡️ Recovering Files with Time Machine and iCloud Drive

The final paragraph focuses on the recovery of files using Time Machine and iCloud Drive. Gary outlines scenarios where Time Machine can effectively restore files, including when a file has been updated or recently accessed, ensuring it's present for backup. He addresses the rare case where a file that was never accessed since the Time Machine backup started gets deleted and cannot be recovered, as it was never locally present to be backed up. Gary suggests proactive measures to ensure important files are downloaded and backed up if they haven't been accessed recently. He concludes by emphasizing that despite the potential for incomplete backups with 'Optimize Mac Storage' on, most users are still well-protected and can recover their files in the majority of situations.

Keywords

💡Time Machine

Time Machine is a backup software application distributed with the Apple macOS computer operating system. It is designed to create automatic backups of a user's files to an external storage device or a network-attached storage device. In the video, Time Machine is discussed in the context of backing up files stored in iCloud Drive, emphasizing its role in ensuring data safety and the importance of understanding its interaction with iCloud settings.

💡iCloud Drive

iCloud Drive is a cloud storage service provided by Apple Inc., which allows users to store files in the cloud and access them from any of their Apple devices. The script explains how iCloud Drive operates with Time Machine, particularly when the 'Optimize Mac Storage' feature is enabled, and how it affects the backup process.

💡Optimize Mac Storage

Optimize Mac Storage is a feature in iCloud Drive settings that manages the storage space on a user's Mac by keeping only recently used files locally while offloading older files to iCloud. The video script discusses the implications of having this feature turned on or off for Time Machine backups, highlighting how it can affect the completeness of backups.

💡Backup

A backup in the context of the video refers to the process of creating a duplicate set of data to prevent data loss in case of a system failure or other catastrophic events. The script explains the importance of backups, especially when using iCloud Drive, and how Time Machine performs backups under different settings.

💡Apple's server

Apple's server in this context refers to the remote storage infrastructure provided by Apple for iCloud Drive users. The script mentions that even when files are offloaded from a user's local Mac due to the 'Optimize Mac Storage' feature, they are still available on Apple's servers, ensuring data is not lost.

💡Local storage

Local storage refers to the physical storage space available on a user's device, such as a hard drive or SSD. The video discusses the importance of having sufficient local storage to accommodate all files for a complete Time Machine backup, especially when 'Optimize Mac Storage' is turned off.

💡File offloading

File offloading is the process by which files that are not recently accessed are removed from local storage to save space, with the content being stored remotely on iCloud servers. The script explains how this process can affect the backup of these files with Time Machine when 'Optimize Mac Storage' is turned on.

💡Cloud icon with an arrow

The cloud icon with an arrow in the script represents the visual indicator in macOS for files that are part of iCloud Drive but are not currently stored locally on the Mac. These files appear to be present but are essentially placeholders that will download the full file when accessed. The video uses this icon as an example to explain how users can identify offloaded files.

💡On-demand downloading

On-demand downloading is a feature of iCloud Drive that allows files to be automatically downloaded to a user's Mac when they are opened or interacted with. The script mentions this feature as a way that Time Machine can still back up these files, even if they are not currently stored locally.

💡Recovery

Recovery in the context of the video refers to the process of restoring lost or deleted files from a backup. The script discusses different scenarios of data loss and how Time Machine, in conjunction with iCloud Drive, can be used to recover files, even when 'Optimize Mac Storage' is enabled.

💡Catastrophe

In the video, a catastrophe refers to a severe event that results in the loss of a user's Mac, necessitating a complete recovery of data from a backup. The script explains how Time Machine and iCloud Drive can be used together to recover all files in such a scenario.

Highlights

Gary from MacMost explains the impact of using iCloud Drive with Time Machine backup.

There are two modes for iCloud Drive: Optimize Mac Storage being Off or On.

With Optimize Mac Storage Off, all files in iCloud Drive are stored locally and on Apple's server.

Time Machine backs up everything locally, including files in iCloud Drive, when Optimize Mac Storage is Off.

Optimize Mac Storage On may off-load files not recently accessed, retaining only a shell with a cloud icon.

Files off-loaded with Optimize Mac Storage On cannot be backed up by Time Machine if their content is missing.

To ensure a complete local backup, a sufficiently large local drive and having Optimize Mac Storage Off is recommended.

Most users may not need a 100% local backup, as Time Machine still backs up most files even with Optimize Mac Storage On.

Time Machine only backs up files that have changed, not the same file repeatedly.

Files created while Time Machine is active are backed up, even if they are later off-loaded.

Updated files are re-backup by Time Machine once downloaded for editing.

If Time Machine was not active when files were off-loaded, those files cannot be backed up and are lost if deleted.

Three main scenarios for needing a Time Machine backup: catastrophe, reverting file versions, and file recovery after deletion.

In a catastrophe, Time Machine and iCloud combined can restore all files, even with Optimize Mac Storage used.

Most apps offer a revert to previous version feature, reducing reliance on Time Machine for file version recovery.

Files accessed recently are backed up by Time Machine, allowing for recovery even if later off-loaded.

The only uncovered scenario is the loss of a file not accessed since starting the current Time Machine backup.

Manually downloading important files ensures they are backed up by Time Machine, even with Optimize Mac Storage On.

The video concludes that using Time Machine with iCloud Drive and Optimize Mac Storage is mostly safe, but not absolutely certain for 100% backup.

Transcripts

Hi, this is Gary with MacMost.com. Let me explain  

what happens when you try to do a Time  Machine backup and you're using iCloud Drive. 

MacMost is brought to you thanks to a  great group of more than 1000 supporters.  

Go to MacMost.com/patreon. There you can  read more about the Patreon Campaign.  

Join us and get exclusive  content and course discounts.

Now when you're using iCloud Drive the important  thing to keep in mind is that there are two  

different modes. In System Preferences you'll find  these in your Apple ID under iCloud Drive and it's  

called Optimize Mac Storage. You can either  have this Off or On. Now let's look at what  

happens when you have it Off. Let's dive down  into iCloud Drive, into the Documents folder,  

let's say you have Desktop and Documents turned On  and you've created a folder called Some Folder. In  

there you have five files. These are on your Mac.  You look on your Mac in your Documents folder,  

Some Folder there's files A through E. Since  these are in iCloud Drive these are also going  

to be on Apple's server. 100% of the files on  your Mac in your Documents folder in iCloud Drive  

are going to be on your Mac and a 100% of them are  also going to be on Apple's server. When you have  

Optimize Mac Storage turned Off everything  is always going to be in both locations. Or  

it's easier to think of it as one location  that you can access from different places.

If you go to Backup with Time Machine, Time  Machine is going to backup everything locally  

including anything you've got in your User Folder  that's outside of iCloud Drive. Also anything  

that is in iCloud Drive. All these  files are there locally on your Mac.  

All the data is there. Time Machine does  its backup. It backs everything up. You  

have 100% backup. All your stuff if you  are using Optimize Mac Storage turned Off.

Now what if you turn it On. If you have Optimize  Mac Storage turned On you may see something like  

this. Only some of your files are available  on your Mac. It appears all the files are  

there. They are all going to be on your list. But  some files, files you haven't accessed recently  

are going to be off-loaded. They are going to  appear to be there but they are kind of like  

envelopes that are empty. There's nothing  inside. The content of the files is missing.  

You could recognize these very easily  because they have a little Cloud icon with an  

arrow pointing down in them. This icon allows you  to click it and download those files so they are  

there. Or you can simply open up the file and,  on demand, you're going to be able to download  

them from iCloud Drive before the file opens  up. Note that 100% of your files are always  

on Apple servers. Optimize Mac Storage is for  optimizing your local drive. The whole point of  

this feature is if you have a small drive locally  but plenty of space on iCloud Drive. So if you  

have a terabyte of stuff you can have that all  on Apple servers but maybe you only have a 512 GB  

hard drive so only some of the stuff, like in  this case File A and C, are fully present with  

all the content. Files B, D, E are just hallow  files. Nothing in them. The content is missing.

In this case when Time Machine backs up you can  only properly backup the files that are completed  

there. File A and C will be backed up. Files B,  D, E can't be backed up. The contents are missing.

So if you need a 100% local backup, all your  files there all the time no exceptions, there  

are two things that you need to do. First is your  Drive needs to be big enough to hold everything.  

If you have a terabyte of data you need to  have a terabyte, probably 2 terabytes really,  

of drive space on your local Mac. Then step 2  is make sure Optimize Mac Storage is turned Off.  

This ensures that all your files are local  

as well as on the server at all times  and Time Machine can back everything up.

But, do you actually really need that? I argue  that most people don't because even with Optimize  

Mac Storage turned On and not all your files  local all the time you still are getting just  

about everything backed up, probably more than  you even think. So let's look at the situation  

where you have Optimize Mac Storage turned On.  Some of your files on your drive, only the files  

currently present, are backed up. So in this case  Files A and C will be backed up. B,D,E will not.  

Or are they? Well here's the thing. They kind of  still are. Let me look at two situations. One in  

which you create a completely new set of files.  So you start a new project. You created a new  

folder for it called Some Folder. You've got your  Time Machine backup going. You've got Optimize  

Mac Storage turned On. You create your first  file. It's a new file. It's present on your Mac.  

It's going to get backed up. It may in the future  get Off-loaded and not there. But that's way in  

the future. Right now Time Machine does its hourly  backup and gets File A. File A is backed up.  

You can create four more files. They are all new  files. They are all present on your Mac and they  

are all going to be backed up. It is going to be  awhile before those are Off-loaded because you  

recently used these files. Optimize Mac Storage  keeps around recently accessed files because they  

are the ones you most likely will need again.  So everything here now is fine and Backed Up.

Now let's say some time goes by. You accessed  A and C pretty often. But it turns out B, D,  

and E you haven't accessed since you originally  created them. There's no need to backup B, D,  

and E again anyway because it backed it up  the first time. You haven't changed it since.  

Even if Time Machine had access to these  files it still wouldn't back them up  

because it already has a backup of the file  as it exists now. Time Machine backs up when  

there is change. It doesn't backup the same file  over and over again if it hasn't been changed.  

So, in this case all five files are backed up  and they are just fine even though now files B,  

D, and E haven't been accessed in awhile. They are  not present locally. They have been optimized. You  

still have the backup because they were created  and then backed up by Time Machine originally.  

You're are all good in this situation. Let's  say file D is updated. It's downloaded. It  

has to be downloaded for you to update it. Once  it is downloaded it has been recently accessed.  

It's going to hang around for awhile. Time  Machine is going to back it up and Time Machine  

will get this new version of File D there. So  it's all good. Everything is still backed up.

From this point on anything you do, anytime you  change a file, it's going to be present locally  

for Time Machine to back it up. So you don't  have to have Optimize Mac Storage turned Off.  

Time Machine is going to be able to handle  the situation just fine. You'll have  

the same backup you would have  if Optimize Mac Storage was Off.

Now let's look at a different situation. Let's  look at a situation where some folder was created  

and you weren't using Time Machine. You've  got Optimize Mac Storage On. So eventually,  

after awhile, files B, D, and E are off-loaded  because you haven't accessed them in awhile. Files  

A and C are present because you have accessed them  recently. Now, you start your Time Machine backup.  

Time Machine could only backup A and C. It can't  access B, D, and E because they are not present  

locally. It can't back them up. Now you delete  file D by accident. There's no way to recover it.  

Time Machine never actually saw the file local. It  was optimized and off-loaded and only present on  

Apple server from the moment Time Machine started  backing things up. Now that you have deleted it,  

it's gone. You can't get it back. Keep in  mind by deleting it I mean it was dragged  

to the Trash and then Trash was emptied. It's a  little hard to do as it should be. So hopefully  

this situation doesn't come up too often.  If it does come up keep in mind it has to be  

with a file that you haven't accessed recently,  since you actually started backing up with  

Time Machine. So this is a situation where by  using Optimize Mac Storage and Time Machine you  

failed to backup a file and then you loose  it. But how often does this actually happen?

There are really three main times when  you need your Time Machine backup.  

The first is a Catastrophe. Your Mac is stolen.  It's broken. A meteor hits your house. Whatever.  

It's gone and you need to get all your  files back. Another situation is you  

need to revert to an old version of a file. You  are writing your autobiography and a few weeks  

ago you made some changes and now you want to  revert back to before you made those changes.  

The third reason is that you had a  file and you accidentally deleted  

it. A couple of weeks later you realize  your mistake and now you want it back.

So if you're using iCloud Drive Optimize Mac  Storage and you've been backing up with Time  

Machine how can you recover in these situations.  Well, in a catastrophe it turns out you're fine.  

You restore your local files with Time Machine.  This gives you things back that say were in your  

Movies folder that weren't part of iCloud Drive.  It also restores everything in iCloud Drive that  

Time Machine could get ahold of to backup. Then  you sign into iCloud. Now you have access to  

everything that was on iCloud Drive including the  file that Time Machine never got to see and never  

got to backup. You're back to everything restored.  Just restoring from Time Machine, signing into  

iCloud and you're back. The fact that you used  Optimize Mac Storage didn't hurt you at all.

Now what about the situation where you  revert to an old version of a file.  

Well chances are you don't need Time Machine  at all to revert. Most modern apps, like Pages,  

Numbers, and Keynote or even things like Microsoft  Word have a function where you can revert  

to a previous version of the file. So you can just  revert to that previous version inside the app.  

No need to access your backup. But let's say it's  a file that doesn't have that. It's a graphics  

file or something with an app that doesn't have a  Revert To function. Well, if you change the file  

then that means the file had to be downloaded on  your Mac, it had to be present there, which means  

the Time Machine got a chance to back it up, doing  its regular hourly backups. Which means it is  

going to be there on Time Machine. You're covered.  You can get this old version of the file back.

How about if you delete a file? Well, if you  delete a file and it's something you've accessed  

recently then it would have been present at some  point on your local drive. Time Machine would have  

backed it up and now you can recover it using Time  Machine. But there's that last situation where  

it's a file that doesn't appear to be important.  You haven't accessed it since you started your  

Time Machine backup that you're using right now  and it's just now present there in Time Machine.  

It's gone. This is the situation that's not  covered. So you have to ask yourself is it worth  

it to get a Mac with a really big hard drive so  you don't use Optimize and have everything present  

all the time. So you have a 100% backup to avoid  this one situation or can you use the Optimize  

feature knowing that you're covered most of the  time for most things that you use a backup for.

Keep in mind that if you know that there's a  file that's important to you, like for instance  

you are writing your autobiography but you  haven't touched the file in a year and you've  

started a new Time Machine backup since then  you could always go to that file and click the  

little cloud icon to download it. That will  get it backed up. Or just open up any file  

and do anything with it and it will get  backed up. You can even select a whole folder  

and say I want all this stuff. This is important  tax information or whatever. Download that now  

and then it will be local for at least awhile  and get backed up. So I hope this explains all  

the different aspects of using Time Machine  backups along with the iCloud Drive Optimize  

Mac Storage option. As you can see you're pretty  much covered even if you're using the Optimize  

Mac Storage function. But if you want to be  absolutely sure that you're covered all the time  

it's just a matter of having a big enough  hard drive and not using the Optimize feature.

I hope you found this useful. Thanks for watching.