We all know the importance of backing up our Macs, but what is the best Mac backup software to use for the job? To many of us, backing up a Mac means using Time Machine, the free backup app included with macOS. Time Machine can make incremental backups of everything on a Mac and can be used clone an old Mac to a new Mac. Also popular is iCloud, which although not a way to back up your Mac, can be used to sync photos, music, files and more so you can access them on all your Apple devices.

However, while Time Machine and iCloud are great resources, they aren’t perfect, and relying on them alone to keep your data safe is a mistake that could have disastrous consequences.

In this article, we look at the best Mac backup software to use with your Mac. We also have an article where we look at cloud backup for Macs including Backblaze, Carbonite, IDrive and other options that offer the ability to combine local backups with backup to the cloud.

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Best backup software for Mac 2025

Of the apps and services we look at here, Time Machine from Apple is by far the simplest option. It’s also completely free and available to everyone with a Mac, so you might be wondering why you would want to consider another backup option for your Mac? Time Machine is good, but it is limited compared to some of the options out there. Aside from Time Machine our top choice right now is ChronoSync, which is easy to use, quick, reliable and reasonably priced.?

Read on to find out how options such as Get Backup Pro, ChronoSync, Carbon Copy Cloner, and SuperDuper might meet your needs.

Apple Time Machine – Best Mac backup for the majority

Apple’s Time Machine, built into every Mac, offers reliable, incremental local backups with a full restore function. The application is tailored to cooperate cleanly with Migration Assistant, supports encryption, and reminds you to back up every so often. Keep in mind that it requires a connected external drive, so pairing it with a cloud service gives you the best of both worlds.

We are starting with Apple’s Time Machine software because it is included with every Mac. But that doesn’t necessarily mean it will be the best option for you.

Time Machine is a reliable tool for local backups of Macs, providing a full-sized initial backup of every file on the Mac and incremental backups throughout the day as long as the Mac is attached to a designated Time Machine external drive. That drive can be disconnected and used as an external drive for other computers or paired with multiple Macs for backups.

The first backup takes the longest while every file on the Mac is rolled into the Time Machine backup, but it gets quicker from there. Time Machine’s Restore function allows users to open and scroll through past backups to locate and restore files, which is useful if something was accidentally deleted or you made changes to a file and need to go back to an earlier version.

When paired with Apple’s Migration Assistant, porting data and user profiles from an old Mac to a new one is simple. When importing a Time Machine backup to a new Mac, Time Machine inherits previous backups as well.

For security, users can designate a password to encrypt their Time Machine backups and there are reminders about the number of days since the last backup that encourage you to keep it plugged in.

However, Time Machine is more geared towards external hard drives, which can be lost, damaged, or stolen, and it relies on said drive being connected to your Mac (you could use a NAS drive). It is best to have both a local and secure off-site copy of your data, and the online backup market has grown over the past few years with services like iCloud, OneDrive, Dropbox, and Box.

Despite its limitations, Time Machine is an excellent solution for local backups of Macs. While it requires an external hard drive connected to the Mac for consistent functionality, it offers excellent protection built into the operating system.

ChronoSync – Ultimate Mac backup with complete control

Mac Backup Guru delivers synchronized cloning, smart incremental backups, and user-controlled snapshots, which offer more precision than Time Machine. Its minimal interface hides strong customization and iCloud integration, and while it lacks space-use alerts, its $9 price tag makes it a sleeper hit for users who want control without overcomplication. This is a solid and streamlined contender, and what it lacks in flash and marketing, it makes up for with reliable functionality worth looking into.

Mac Backup Guru offers what’s expected from a backup utility in terms of core backup and archival functionalities and works to take it a step further.

It offers both a synchronized clone backup, which can create standard copies of folders and drives as well as incremental backups that track changes and back up the changes (like Time Machine does).

The application’s easily customizable settings offer tight control over aspects such as setting the source and destination volumes, and you can pick and choose specific volumes and folders to include and exclude. The scheduler feature works like a charm.

Apple’s Time Machine will create snapshots of your hard drive at different times throughout the day, but there’s way to control when these are created or when they’re deleted. Mac Backup Guru offers this feature. Additionally, the number of recent snapshots can be designated as well before older snapshots are deleted.

There’s also backup/cloning feature that taps into iCloud-related tools and makes a copy of all your iCloud-based files to help complete the cloned volume.

Still, there’s room for improvement. For example, the app doesn’t confirm how much space it’ll need for a copy, leaving you rolling the dice as to whether you have enough space on the destination drive for the full copy.

Mac Backup Guru is an easy-to-use backup tool that keeps options and settings to a minimum while offering several useful features. It’s also good value – at the time of writing it was on offer for less than $9/￡7.51, a significant discount on its usual $29/￡24.15 price.

Backblaze – Online, offsite backup service

Acronis True Image for Mac combines backup and antivirus features in one sleek package. Its modules handle cloning, archiving, and bootable backups with ease. Cloud storage, ransomware protection, and strong malware detection sweeten the deal, and while Some bugs and clunky UI elements persist, it’s powerful, flexible, and starts at a reasonable price.

Acronis True Image for Mac works as a customizable backup utility as well as an antiviral/anti-malware app. It starts at $49.99/￡42.99 per year for the Essentials version that includes one computer with local backup and anti-ransomware. You can pay more for cloud based backups, which is why we also include it in our round up of cloud-based Mac backup apps.

You’ll find Backup, Protection, Disk Cloning, and Archive modules. The Backup module allows you to designate source and destination volumes as well as choose which files are backed up and to where. It’s easy to create exclusion lists as to which files can by bypassed when it comes to backing up, and the scheduling feature worked well.

The Backup module also leads to True Image’s Acronis Survival Kit, which allows for a bootable backup drive to be created that your Mac can boot and install a new operating system from.

The Disk Cloning module works well, and makes quick copies of volumes as needed. The Archive module allows you to offload local data to Acronis’ cloud structure, which is handy for freeing up local space.

The Protection module offered a good degree of antiviral protection, catching no less than 23 potential threats from a sample archive off the bat.

Unfortunately, during our testing there were bugs that couldn’t be avoided and user interface elements that were either inconvenient or needed a complete overall.

Read our full Acronis True Image review

Why you should trust Macworld

Macworld’s backup software reviewer, Chris Barylick is an Apple-Certified Macintosh Technician with experience working with clients who have lost data and decades of experience tinkering with Macs. Like the rest of the Macworld team, he has been using Mac hardware, software, and services for decades. Macworld’s review process is thorough and we have evaluated all aspects of the products included here. We discuss our testing process in more detail below.

How we choose the best backup software

Here at Macworld we conduct comprehensive software reviews and, on occasion, a particular application emerges as an undisputed standout. However, in certain cases, multiple contenders may emerge. The optimal choice often hinges on a specific set of requirements. For instance, one option may be the most suitable for those with a limited budget, while another may be preferable for an individual who wants more control over the software. Consequently, we provide specific recommendations for each application so you can find the one that meets your needs. The applications that we deem most worthy are included in our group tests. If an application is not featured here, it may be due to its lower rating compared to those included in this roundup.

How we test Mac backup software

We judge the best Mac backup software on a variety of criteria including reliability, ease of use and the features it supports. Our tests involve running each program through the various types of backups it’s capable of, restoring backup data to make sure that it can be recovered without corruption, and simulating disaster recovery scenarios. We aim to ensure that the software delivers on its promises and that it is easy to use. We run through what we recommend you look for in a backup app in more detail below. We award scores between 0 and 5, including half stars and the best apps are then considered for our Best Backup software for Mac list.

How to choose the best Mac backup app

We’ve selected the best Mac backup software in this group test based on the criteria mentioned above. If you are evaluating the best option for you we recommend that you consider the following:

Value for money: Is the app subscription only or can you purchase a perpetual licence? In many cases buying the software outright may appeal because you won’t be charged each year. One advantage of a subscription model tends to be that the developer will keep your version of the app up to date, so there is less risk that the app won’t be supported in the future. Some apps will have multiple features, which is great if you need them all, but another app with fewer features may cost less and give you what you need.

Backup options: Think about what you want to backup because there is more than one type of backup. A system backup will back up everything – the operating system, all your applications, and all your settings. This means that if your Mac fails (or you buy a new one) you can recover your Mac exactly the way it was onto a new model. This method is time consuming the first time the backup is made, but later backups are incremental, with only only backups being things that have changed.

Alternatively a data only back up will allow you to keep a copy of files and data that can be restored at a later date. This method is quick, but if your Mac fails you will need to reinstall the operating system and your apps and your unique set up will be lost.

Another option, though it’s not a backup as such, is syncing. You can sync your data on your Mac to the cloud and then access it on other devices you own. The main problem with this is that if you alter a file that is synced to the cloud those changes are made centrally, so you can’t easily recover an older version. So if you delete what’s in the cloud you will lose it for ever (although luckily there is an option to recover your deleted data for 30-day, at least on iCloud).

Backup device: Another issue is what you will be backing up to. A SSD will be quick, but an hard drive will offer you more space for less money. Your choice of backup software should consider how much data you are backing up and what you are backing up to. Another consideration is what will happen when you run out of space for your backup. Look at the space management options of the backup app. Will older backups be deleted.

Scheduling options: Of all the features offered by backup apps this is probably the most important. Look to see how often you can set your backups to happen, are they real time, continuous, hourly, daily, weekly? If your Mac is only backing up what changes then a real time backup can actually be less noticeable because you Mac only backs up a small amount of data at a time.

Security: Also important is the security of your data, especially if you are carrying a hard drive around with you. Look for both encryption and/or password protection options.

FAQ

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1.

What is the best way to backup a Mac?

An ideal strategy consists of at least two separate backup schedules, one backing up your Mac to a hard drive onsite, and one backing up to a drive that’s stored offsite or in the cloud. At the very least, if you use Time Machine to back up to an external hard drive or network device, you should also have another tool running regular backups to a different drive just in case one fails.

2.

How do I backup my entire Mac to an external hard drive?

You can do this with Time Machine, which is the simplest and cheapest solution. The only associated cost is purchasing an external drive, but a 1TB hard drive can be purchased for less than $30/￡40 these days, so that isn’t prohibitive.

Here’s how to backup with Time Machine:

1. Plug in a hard drive, SSD or NAS drive.
2. An alert should appear on your Mac asking if you want to use the drive with Time Machine. Click Use as Backup Disk. (If you don’t see the alert, make sure the drive is formatted correctly, see: How to format a drive for Mac).
3. If you still don’t see the alert, open System Settings > General > Time Machine and choose Backup Disk.
4. Choose the storage device and click Use Disk.
5. Choose how often you want to back up, this can be every hour, daily, weekly, or manually.
6. You can also choose what to exclude from backups. Just click on the to remove certain folders.

As we mention above, you shouldn’t rely on only Time Machine, a better solution might be one that is not kept at the same location as your Mac, given that if there was a fire or flood, both Mac and backup could be destroyed.

We explain How to back up your Mac with Time Machine and also How to back up a Mac using various other methods in separate articles.

3.

What does a Mac backup include?

Time Machine keeps a back up of everything on your Mac. It creates hourly, daily, and weekly backups, but only backs up the changes made since the last backup. It also stores multiple versions of documents, so you can go back to older versions and restore them.

Other Mac backup software works in a similar way, creating copies of your data at regular intervals, which can be stored either on-site or off-site.

4.

Can I backup my Mac to iCloud?

You may be wondering if you?can back your Mac up to iCloud? The answer is no, not exactly, but you can create a folder in iCloud and copy files to that.

For more information read: Time Machine vs iCloud: Do you need to use both and can one back up to the other?

5.

How many GB do I need to back up my Mac?

As a rule you need about twice the storage available in your Mac. So, if your Mac has 1TB of storage you need about 2TB in an external drive.

6.

Will my Mac backup in sleep mode?

Intel powered Macs running Power Nap can backup in sleep mode. On modern Macs you need to go to System Settings > Battery (laptop) or Energy (desktop) > Options and set it to wake for network access. If your Mac is set to wake for network access then it will ‘wake up’ from Sleep mode to run Time Machine backups.

Looking for a SSD or Hard drive to back up your Mac? See our best SSDs for Mac and best Hard drives for Mac and Best NAS drives for Mac.

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