You can make a difference in the Apple Support Community!

When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

Time capsule backup of external drive

How do I have time capsule back up an external drive? It is in the exclusion list, but I can't select it to remove it from the exclusion list. Is there a way to remove it from the exclusion list?

MacBook Pro 15″, macOS 12.6

Posted on May 4, 2023 1:48 PM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on May 4, 2023 2:29 PM

If you cannot select the external drive to remove it from the Excluded list, this indicates that the external hard drive is not formatted correctly to work with Time Machine.


The drive needs to be formatted in Mac OS Extended (Journaled).


To see how the external drive is currently formatted, temporarily connect the drive directly to your Mac.

The drive icon will appear on the desktop

Right-Click on the drive

Select Get Info

Check the Format

2 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

May 4, 2023 2:29 PM in response to CarpeDiem10

If you cannot select the external drive to remove it from the Excluded list, this indicates that the external hard drive is not formatted correctly to work with Time Machine.


The drive needs to be formatted in Mac OS Extended (Journaled).


To see how the external drive is currently formatted, temporarily connect the drive directly to your Mac.

The drive icon will appear on the desktop

Right-Click on the drive

Select Get Info

Check the Format

Time capsule backup of external drive

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.