TimeMachine set to manual - No local snapshots?

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TimeMachine set to manual - No local snapshots?

Apple describes TM this way:

"Time Machine makes hourly backups for the past 24 hours, daily backups for the past month, and weekly backups for all previous months. The oldest backups are deleted when your backup disk is full.

Beginning with macOS Ventura, you can change the backup frequency: Open Time Machine settings, click Options, then choose a setting from the “Back up frequency” menu."

I use more than one TM disk and start backups manually. I've always assumed TM kept everything needed to create backups as described above in local snapshots (for each disk) and then moved them to the disks when I did the backups.

But some articles indicate this is not true if TM is set to Manual because no local snapshots are created/kept.

About Time Machine local snapshots on Mac - Apple Support

About Time Machine local snapshots - Apple Support

Am I misunderstanding how TM works in Manual mode? Am I losing backup points by not using TM automatically?

MacBook Pro Apple Silicon

Posted on Nov 24, 2022 2:48 AM

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Answer 1

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Deep Sky Diver

Level 1

142 points

Nov 24, 2022 3:29 AM in response to keithfromminneapolis

When Time Machine is set to "manual", no local snapshot are being created. Thus, logically, whenever you initiate a manual Time Machine backup, that backup is only a "snapshot" of your data and system settings at that moment in time. The answers to your first two questions, are therefore "yes".

Your third question about the statement, I'd answer with a "yes and no". That statement is correct but it assumes Time Machine is set to its default value: automatic (and hourly). I think that statement should be amended, as it was totally correct until macOS Ventura allowed users to change the frequency of automatic Time Machine backups (once every hour, once every day, etc.).

But like I said before, Time Machine never created any local snapshots when it was turned "off" in any previous OS, and never creates any local snapshots now in Ventura when it is set to "manual".

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Answer 2

Nov 24, 2022 3:20 AM in response to Deep Sky Diver

Thanks.

Does this mean that Manual users do not get all the back up points written to the TM disks that Automatic users do? They only get a snapshot of the machine at the point of running the backup?

That would make this statement not true, correct?:

"Time Machine makes hourly backups for the past 24 hours, daily backups for the past month, and weekly backups for all previous months."

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Answer 3

Nov 24, 2022 5:47 AM in response to Deep Sky Diver

Thanks again. You've answered my questions and exposed my misunderstanding.

I agree they need to clarify how TM behaves with the new scheduling options allowed. I'm curious how often snapshots get made, and how many of them are then written to the disk, for each of the three choices.

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Answer 4

Nov 24, 2022 3:15 AM in response to keithfromminneapolis

When Time Machine is set to manual backup only (in previous OS versions: "off"), no local snapshots are created. That has always been the case.

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TimeMachine set to manual - No local snapshots?

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