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ybarra_g Author

Level 1

8 points

what size external drive do I need to make backups on imac

iMac 27″ 5K, macOS 10.15

Posted on Sep 8, 2022 3:11 PM

Top-ranking reply

rkaufmann87

Level 10

143,988 points

Posted on Sep 8, 2022 3:15 PM

If you are using Time Machine as your backup tool, the general rule of thumb is 2-3 times the capacity of what is stored on the computer. For example, let's say you have a 1TB internal storage but are only using 500GB of storage. That would mean a 1 - 2 TB External Hard Disk would be fine.

2 x 500 GB = 1 TB

3 x 500 GB = 1.5 TB (as there are no 1.5 TB drives, round it up to 2 TB)

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what size external drive do I need to make backups on imac

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