To do so first make sure the external hard drives you want to include are connected to the computer. So, if you want to include external hard drives in the backup, you’ll need to remove those drives from the exclude list. Note that you’ll need to make sure that the hard drive you’re using for the Time Machine backup has enough storage capacity for all of the drives you intend to include.īy default, Time Machine only backs up internal hard drives. You can add external hard drives to your Time Machine backup if you want to include those drives. That’s because Time Machine makes it remarkably easy to restore from a backup when you accidentally delete files, have a problem with your computer, or buy a new computer.
I highly recommend using Time Machine to back up the internal drive on your computer even if you are also using other software or online tools to back up that drive. More Detail: Time Machine is the backup software built into the Macintosh operating system. I use GoodSync software ( ) for this purpose. However, my personal preference is to use software that creates a synchronized backup of external hard drives so the backup is a perfect match of the original. Tim’s Quick Answer: Yes, you can use Time Machine on a Macintosh to back up external hard drives in addition to internal hard drives. I will continue with the offsite backup but wonder if I can use Time Machine for both my internal and external hard drives. I now use Time Machine and periodically backup with drag and drop to an external hard drive that I keep offsite. Today’s Question: I’m about to move my images from my internal hard drive to an external hard drive and am thinking about backup.