Time machine what should i exclude

Ask Different is a question and answer site for power users of Apple hardware and software. It only takes a minute to sign up. Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search. I want to know list of folders that can be safely excluded from Time Machine backups while ensuring that full restore can get me a same machine running immediately.

The reason why I want to do this is because Time Machine will backup all the files no matter what it contains. Time Machine does not actually backup everything. Adding these folders to your exclusion list is not necessary and is redundant. You can verify that the caches and logs folders are in this exclusion list. If you're using services such as Dropbox and Google Drive, then it's safe to exclude these from the Time Machine backups since they will be retrieved from the Internet in case you need to recover your system.

Sign up to join this community. The best answers are voted up and rise to the top. Stack Overflow for Teams — Collaborate and share knowledge with a private group. Create a free Team What is Teams? Learn more. What folders can be safely excluded from Time Machine backup? This time in the Time Machine preferences, click on the "Options" button. A window will slide down which lists the files and folders that are already excluded. Another window will open in which you can navigate your files and choose the file or folder you need to exclude.

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