How to integrate two backups into the internal drive ?

My Time Machine drive failed because of hardware.. it's clicking. Have a MacBookPro with a new Sonoma OS. So I found a data backup from 9/18/25 and used that to restore the internal drive. Been using the laptop and it's fine, but missing weeks of data. Yesterday I found a back up from 10/28, so I'd like to integrate that into the internal drive.


Is there software or technique which will integrate this later backup into the internal drive which has data from 9/18 through today?

With OS 9, there was an application which compares drives/.files. What is available now so I could manually add data to the internal drive?

MacBook Pro 16″, macOS 14.8

Posted on Nov 1, 2025 11:22 PM

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Posted on Nov 13, 2025 1:49 AM

You can’t truly merge two Time Machine backups into your internal drive automatically, macOS doesn’t support that. The clean way is manual, once you find the newer backup (the 10/28 one), mount it in Finder, then manually copy only what’s missing or newer than what’s on your Mac now. Use Finder’s Replace/Keep Both prompts to decide file-by-file, or use a tool like ChronoSync or Carbon Copy Cloner for a more guided comparison and sync. They’ll show differences between drives and let you merge data safely without overwriting newer files. After that, ditch the old failing backup disk and start a fresh Time Machine backup to avoid this mess again.

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Nov 13, 2025 1:49 AM in response to RAMSLOT

You can’t truly merge two Time Machine backups into your internal drive automatically, macOS doesn’t support that. The clean way is manual, once you find the newer backup (the 10/28 one), mount it in Finder, then manually copy only what’s missing or newer than what’s on your Mac now. Use Finder’s Replace/Keep Both prompts to decide file-by-file, or use a tool like ChronoSync or Carbon Copy Cloner for a more guided comparison and sync. They’ll show differences between drives and let you merge data safely without overwriting newer files. After that, ditch the old failing backup disk and start a fresh Time Machine backup to avoid this mess again.

Nov 9, 2025 4:11 PM in response to RAMSLOT

RAMSLOT wrote:

Nope. My bad. B/U. #1 is from three weeks ago. B/U #2 more recent not yet found. Data was added into the IHD since B/U #2. IHD restored using B/U #1. How to make a complete B/U in the IHD when B/U #2 is located,

Feel free to ask more if clarifications needed. (I've now set-up TM backups attached to router.


Two incomplete / corrupt backups is always going to mean some (manual) re-assembly is required.


If your internal storage is not corrupt (and you don’t need to restore, or only need to restore specific lost files), then rescue what you need, scrap the old backup hardware, and start fresh Time Machine backups.

How to integrate two backups into the internal drive ?

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