Set up Time Machine for your Mac photos

Time Machine can automatically copy your Mac’s photo library to a separate drive. Finish the first backup and check what it includes before relying on it.

This guide sets up a new backup. If Time Machine already protects your Mac, use your existing arrangement and check its latest result instead.

What you need

A Mac running macOS Ventura 13 or later, its power connection, and a separate USB or Thunderbolt drive reserved for backups. Time Machine is included with macOS; no additional backup app is needed.

Have the name and location of your Photos library ready. Its full originals must already be on the Mac for this backup to contain them. If you use files outside the library, include those locations in your note too.

1. Connect and identify the backup drive

Connect the drive to your Mac. Open Finder, the smiling face in the Dock. Under Locations in the sidebar, check the drive’s name and existing contents.

Use a different physical drive from the one holding your working library. Two sections of one drive would still depend on that single device.

Do not erase a drive containing files you need. Use a new or safely emptied drive for this first setup. If it holds another person’s backups, leave that arrangement alone.

Allow room for the Mac’s other files and future changes, not just today’s photos. A fuller drive leaves less space for older versions.

2. Choose the drive in Time Machine

Open the Apple menu > System Settings > General > Time Machine. Click Add Backup Disk, or the + button if a disk is already listed.

Select the drive you identified and choose Set Up Disk. Read its name again before accepting the setup.

If an erase message appears, continue only when you have established that nothing on that drive needs keeping. Otherwise cancel and choose a suitable drive. Do not use erasing as a way past an unfamiliar message.

If you select Encrypt Backup, keep its password somewhere secure that you can access if this Mac fails. Encryption protects the stored copy, but recovery also needs that password.

3. Check the excluded folders

In Time Machine settings, open Options and inspect Exclude from Backups. Locations listed here are left out.

Check for your Photos library, a folder containing it, its external source drive, and any outside photo folders. If an intended source is excluded, establish why before changing it.

Once you are sure it should be included, select that entry and click the – button to remove the exclusion. This removes it from the exclusion list; it does not delete the folder. Close the options when finished.

4. Let the first backup finish

Keep the Mac awake, connected to power and connected to the backup drive. The first run may take a long time for a large collection.

Read the result in Time Machine settings. Look for a completed backup with today’s date, rather than an unfinished progress message or error.

Write down the drive name and completed time. If an error appears, record its wording and resolve it before counting this as a completed copy.

Check it worked

Time Machine lists the intended drive and a completed backup. Your library and other required photo locations are not excluded.

This confirms the setup and reported backup result. It does not yet prove you can recover usable photographs. Open recovered sample files as your next check.

If you get stuck

Only small previews were on the Mac: Time Machine cannot fill that gap. Download the originals before making and checking another backup.

The drive is too small: use suitable storage. Do not delete original photographs simply to make the backup fit.

The backup stops when the drive is unplugged: reconnect it and allow a completed run. Eject the drive in Finder before disconnecting it after use.