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Indiana27 Author

Level 1

4 points

Time Machine backup taking too long

Im doing a time machine backup for the first time. The backup is going to be 194gb. It has been running now for 24hrs and has only backed up 4gb. Is this right

iMac 21.5", macOS 10.15

Posted on May 14, 2020 1:50 AM

Top-ranking reply

John Galt

Level 10

146,510 points

Posted on May 14, 2020 7:07 AM

That's a long time, even for an initial backup which always takes a long time. Read If Time Machine is slow on Mac.

I'd be inclined to let it continue. If you interrupt it, it will just have to start all over again.

How is the TM backup disk connected? Time Machine will be fastest using drives directly connected to your Mac (USB or Thunderbolt). For Time Capsule or AEBS-connected USB hard disk drives, wired (Ethernet) is preferable to wireless due to the vagaries of wireless communication.

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Time Machine backup taking too long

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