What to do when the time machine is stuck in preparing backup for macOS 10.15 - OS X 10.6? Here we are going to talk about how long Time Machine preparing backup take and how to fix Time Machine stuck issues in macOS Catalina, Mojave, High Sierra or some other Mac versions.
This page unveils the solution to resolve the Time Machine stuck issue and offers a reliable data recovery software to help you bring lost files back with ease. If you are suffering from this issue, follow the provided process to make Time Machine work again:
How to Back Up Your Computer with Time Machine. Mac macOS (10.5 and above) has an excellent built-in backup tool called Time Machine. Once you plug in a hard drive and set up Time Machine, it will work automatically in the background, continuously saving copies of all your files, applications, and system files (i.e., most everything except for the stuff you likely don’t need to back up, such. External drive connected to your Mac. Time Machine can back up to an external drive connected to.
| Workable Solutions | Step-by-step Troubleshooting |
|---|---|
| Phrase 1. Check Cause | Find the cause of Time Machine stuck: 1. The data size is too big; 2. Drive problem...Full steps |
| Phrase 2. Fix Time Machine | Stop failing Time Machine > Remove the .inProgress file > Prevent Spotlight from indexing...Full steps |
| Phrase 3. Recover Lost Data | If you lost data after fixing the issue, run EaseUS Mac data recovery software to restore lost data...Full steps |
Here’s how to setup and configure Time Machine backups on a Mac: Connect the Time Machine hard drive to the Mac if you have not done so already Go to the Apple menu in the upper left corner, then select “System Preferences”, and choose “Time Machine” Click “Select Backup Disk”. A general 'rule of thumb' is, to keep a reasonable 'depth' of backups, Time Machine needs 2 to 4 times as much space as the data it's backing-up (not necessarily the entire size of your internal HD). Be sure to add the size of the data on any other drives/partitions you want to back up. But this varies greatly, depending on how you use your Mac.
Many users have an unpleasant experience of Time Machine stuck in preparing backup in macOS Catalina, Catalina, Mojave, High Sierra or some other Mac versions. Time Machine is a simple and convenient backup tool for mac. Generally, it creates backups automatically - It starts and finishes without your interference. However, in certain cases, this tool can get frozen or stuck.
If Time Machine gets stuck, you shouldn't feel helpless. The purpose of this article is to explain how to judge if Time Machine stuck in preparing the backup process or not and how to fix the issue.
Does Your Time Machine Really Get Stuck
Before you start the process of fixing Time Machine, you’ll need to make sure that something is actually wrong. A number of things can make Time Machine take longer than usual. Generally, the preparing backup process is very quick. But some special situations will force Time Machine to take a long time preparing for a backup to begin.
1. The size of the data is too big.
- You have a really large hard drive to backup. For example, you have to back up terabytes of data.
- You've made major changes or added a number of new files to your drive.
2. There is something wrong with your device.
- The hard drive is very old.
- The device is too slow, you need to speed up the Mac.
- The virus attacked your Mac.
3. Haven't backed up data for a long time.
- It is the very first Time Machine backup or you haven't backed up a Mac in a while, say a few months.
In all the cases mentioned above, the Time Machine backup preparation phase does indeed take a long time. But if the Preparing Backup stage takes 12-24 hours, getting stuck in that stage overnight or all day long for no reason, it's not normal. Most times, it suggests that Time Machine has been stuck at preparing the backup.
If you are one of the victims, this guide should help you fix the problem and get Time Machine working on Mac again.
What to Do If Time Machine Is Stuck in the 'Preparing Backup' Process
We’ll go through a multi-step troubleshooting process to resolve the preparing backup problem and get Time Machine working on Mac OS X or macOS again. Before you take any action, back up Mac as soon as possible.
Step 1. Stop the currently failing Time Machine backup attempt
- Open the 'Time Machine' settings panel within System Preferences (get there from the Apple menu or Time Machine menu).
- Click the little (x) icon until the backup attempt stops.
When the progress bar disappears and it no longer says 'preparing backup', it means that you have successfully stopped the currently failed Time Machine backup attempt. Then, you can move to the next step to troubleshooting the Time Machine stuck in preparing backup issue.
Step 2. Remove the .inProgress File
When Time Machine backup is stopped and stuck, the first thing to do is trash the Time Machine placeholder file, at most times the .inProgress file found on the backup drive.
- Open the Time Machine drive in the Finder and navigate to the 'Backups. backup' folder.
- Open the folder within Backups. backup that is the name of the current Mac which is stuck on preparing.
- Put this directory into 'List View' and sort by 'Date Modified', or just search the folder for a file with a '.inProgress' file extension.
- Delete the 'xxxx-xx-xx-xxxxxx.inProgress' file.
Step 3. Prevent Spotlight from Indexing the Time Machine Backup
Spotlight can interfere with the Time Machine preparation process if it's performing an index of the Time Machine backup volume. You can prevent Spotlight from indexing the Time Machine backup volume by adding it to the Privacy tab of the Spotlight preference pane as follows:
- Launch System Preferences by clicking its Dock icon, or selecting System Preferences from the Apple menu.
- Open the Spotlight preference pane by clicking its icon in the Personal Area of the System Preferences window.
- Click the Privacy tab.
Time Machine Backup For Mac Os 10.13
Either drag-and-drop your Time Machine backup volume to the list of locations that will not be indexed, or use the Add (+) button to browse to your backup folder and add it to the list.
Step 4. Reboot Mac and Initiate a Backup Again
Once the .inProgress file is removed, you can reboot your Mac computer with the Time Machine drive connected and turn Time Machine back on to initiate a backup as usual. If this doesn't work, you can use a third-party backup utility - EaseUS Todo Backup for Mac which can back up Mac with just 3 simple steps.
Best Data Recovery Software for Mac (Compatible With Catalina)
One of the most depressing challenges for Mac users must be Mac data recovery. Here EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard could do you a favor. No matter whether you lose a single Office file or terabytes of photos, EaseUS Mac data recovery software can help.
- Recover deleted, formatted, and inaccessible data in different data loss situations.
- Recover photos, audio, music, and emails from any storage effectively, safely and completely.
- Recover data from the Trash, hard drive, memory card, flash drive, digital camera, and camcorder.
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.
Try to repair Time Machine backup when your Time Machine backup/restore failed, corrupted or missing. EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac is helpful to recover a missing or deleted Time Machine backup or disk image on your Mac.
Time Machine Backup/Restore Failed
Mac users, who're currently running macOS Catalina or Mojave, report that they got an issue with Time Machine. Mainly, it's about Time Machine backup failed to back up the scheduled files to the configured backup disks, let it be the Time Capsule drive or third-party drive. Hence, how to repair Time Machine backup becomes the topic we're going to discuss here.
You can read on or jump to the issue & solution you're most concerned about.
| Workable Solutions | Step-by-step Troubleshooting |
|---|---|
| Issue 1. Can't Backup or Restore | Check Time Machine system requirements > check your Mac...Full steps |
| Issue 2. Backup Corrupted | Create a new backup > restart Time Machine > repair with terminal command...Full steps |
| Issue 3. Backup Missing | Download software to recover missing backups > repair unrecognized...Full steps |
Issue 1. Can't Backup or Restore Your Mac Using Time Machine
One phenomenon to get Time Machine backup failed is that you can't back up or access an existing Time Machine backup, or restore from an earlier backup won't work. According to Apple's official instructions (https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204157), when you have a problem with Time Machine, check these things if you see an alert that Time Machine is unable to back up your data, or if you can't select your backup disk in Time Machine preferences.
Fix 1. Check Time Machine System Requirements
- External hard drive connected to a USB, FireWire, or Thunderbolt port on your Mac
- Time Capsule or macOS Server on your network
- External hard drive connected to the USB port of an AirPort Extreme Base Station (802.11ac) on your network
Fix 2. Check Your Mac
- Make sure that your Mac software is up to date.
- Restart your Mac and see if the issue continues.
Fix 3. Check your AirPort Base Station
- If you're using an AirPort Time Capsule or a drive connected to an AirPort Extreme Base Station, make sure that your AirPort firmware is up to date.
- Restart your base station and see if the issue continues. To restart, unplug the base station from AC power for 5 seconds, then plug it back in.
Fix 4. Check Your Network Connection
If you back up to a server, AirPort Time Capsule, or drive connected to your AirPort Extreme Base Station, make sure that your Mac is connected to the same network as your backup drive. You can select your wireless network from the Wi-Fi status menu.
Fix 5. Check Your Backup
If you back up to a server, AirPort Time Capsule, or drive connected to your AirPort Extreme Base Station, make sure that your current Time Machine backup doesn't have any issues that could prevent further backups:
- While holding down the Option key on your keyboard, click the Time Machine menu in the menu bar, then choose Verify Backups.
- If Time Machine finds an issue with your backup, it displays a message with details. Follow the onscreen instructions.
Fix 6. Check Your Drives
- If you're using a drive connected to a port on your Mac or AirPort Extreme Base Station, make sure that the drive is turned on.
- If you're using a USB hub or a similar device, try connecting the drive directly to your Mac or base station.
- If you're backing up to an external third-party drive, check with the drive manufacturer to make sure the drive's firmware is up to date.
- If you're backing up to an external drive, check the formatting of the drive. Time Machine requires that an external drive be formatted like a Mac startup disk: Mac OS Extended (Journaled) with a GUID Partition Table (GPT). If you select a differently formatted drive for use with Time Machine, your Mac automatically prompts you to erase it for Time Machine.
- Reformatting a disk erases all data stored on the disk, so you might want to move important files to another disk first.
If your drive is already formatted correctly, turn off Time Machine, then check it for problems:
- To check the drive of an AirPort Time Capsule, follow the steps to verify an AirPort Time Capsule drive.
- To check an external drive connected to your Mac, open Disk Utility from the Utilities folder of your Applications folder. Then use the First Aid feature in Disk Utility to verify your disk. Do this for your startup disk as well.
- You can turn Time Machine back on after your drives are verified or repaired successfully.
Issue 2. Time Machine Backup Is Corrupted
What's a corrupted Time Machine backup? Below are some backup corruption symptoms.
- Fail to complete Time Machine backup
- can't access time machine backups
- Time Machine keeps asking to create new backups
- Searching for time machine backups taking forever
- Time Machine disk or external device becomes unrecognized
How to repair a corrupted Time Machine backup? According to some experienced users and professional geeks, when Time Machine corrupted, it can be fixed by the following four troubleshooting methods.
Fix 1. Create New Backup
If Time Machine keeps asking you to create new backups, click Create new backup to start the new backup then. So that it can work smoothly later.
Fix 2. Restart Time Machine
Restart Time Machine several times may also help. You may need to switch Time Machine to On-Off-On and then reboot the Time Machine again.
How To Set Up Time Machine
Fix 3. Swap out The Hard Drive
Another solution to repair Time Machine is to set up a new external hard drive with Time Machine as a backup drive.
Fix 4. Repair Corrupted Time Machine with Terminal command
If Time Machine stops responding or even not working on Mac, to repair the corrupted Time Machine becomes tough yet still resolvable with Terminal command.
- Notice:
- Before starting the process, You should stop Time Machine: Time Machine Preferences > Toggle Time Machine 'OFF'.
- Step 1: Open Terminal on Mac and type: $ sudo su - and hit Return.
- Step 2: Type: $ chflags -R nouchg '/Volumes/.sparsebundle' and hit Return.
- If you don't know the TM name, go to Time Machine Prefernces and check out. Or type: $ ls '/Volumes/ and hit Return.
- Step 3: Type: $ hdiutil attach -nomount -readwrite -noverify -noautofsck '/Volumes/.sparsebundle' and hit Return.
- Step 4: Type the below command and hit Return each time:
/dev/disk5 GUID_partition_scheme
/dev/disk5s1 EFI
/dev/disk5s2 Apple_HFS - Step 5: Type: $ fsck_hfs -drfy /dev/diskxs2 and hit Return. After this, if you receive 'The volume was repaired successfully', congratulations.
But if Terminal warns you 'The volume could not be repaired', relax and continue with next command. - Step 6: Type: $ fsck_hfs -p /dev/diskxs2 and hit Return.
- Step 7: Type: $ fsck_hfs -drfy /dev/diskxs2 and hit Return. Wait for the process to complete.
- Step 8: Type: $ vi '/Volumes//.sparsebundle/com.apple.TimeMachine.MachineID.plist' and hit Return.
Change the value of integer from 2 to 0 within that file.
Issue 3. Time Machine Backups Missing
When you cannot access to Time Machine or Time Machine corrupted, you are highly recommended to get backup data back first. How?
Fix 1. Recover Missing Backup Image with Software
If the Time Machine backup disk can be opened but nothing appears, the best way is to scan and restore all lost Time Machines' Backups.backupdb files. Here we'd like to recommend you try EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac which supports users to restore all lost data from different situations within only 3 steps. Download EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac and restore Time Machine backups now:
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.
What's more, if you lost files on Mac or external storage devices, you can also apply EaseUS Mac data recovery software to easily recover files on Mac without Time Machine backup.
Fix 2. Repair Unrecognized Time Machine Drive
When the Time Machine backup disk or external hard drive becomes unrecognized, as a result, backups are missing, you can first mount it on Mac and then run First Aid on Time Machine disk with disk utility.
Step 1: Connect the Time Machine backup external hard drive to Mac. Launch Disk Utility, check external hard drive at the left panel.
You'll see that the external hard drive is greyed out, marked as untitled. (Untitled means unmounted on Mac computer.)
Step 2: Select the untitled external hard drive and click the 'Mount' button from the Disk Utility bar.
Step 3: Select Time Machine drive at drive level on the left panel of Disk Utility and run First Aid.
Step 4: Select Time Machine drive at volume level and run First Aid.
Time Machine Backup Mac Os High Sierra
Wait for the process completes, check if Mac computer can recognize your backup disk and open it in Time Machine again.
Conclusion
Regarding the topic 'Time Machine backup failed' and 'how to repair Time Machine backup', we gathered all feasible solutions to help you resolve the various issues with Time Machine on your Mac. If you have further Time Machine problems, click for more Time Machine guidelines from the following collection.