Time machine update installing a new 2025 seagate

Question

Time machine update installing a new 2025 seagate

Pardon my Naivté, but I am installing a never been used on my MacBook Air OS 18. It's all plugged in, I got to the spot where it says "Update Manually" and I'd like to do that. It tells me to first, update my Time Machine App. I go to the App Store to try to update the Time Machine App, and it's not visible on my App Store.

Is there another way to bring this Ultra (I bought it last year) up to date… and how do I create a "manual back-up"? Sending a screen shot of where I'm 'at'…. see the Tim Machine App sitting on my Desktop.

Thanks,

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 15.1

Posted on Mar 28, 2025 11:33 AM

Reply

Answer 1

robnich

Level 3

887 points

Mar 28, 2025 12:15 PM in response to LindaSchminda

Time Machine is an integral part of the MacOS. You can update it by updating your MacBook's OS to the latest version Sequoia 15.3.2. Once you have done this attach your Seagate external drive, format it if necessary and then click on the small Time Machine icon in the Menu Bar (a small clock face) and select Back Up Now.

Reply

Answer 2

robnich

Level 3

887 points

Mar 28, 2025 2:38 PM in response to LindaSchminda

It might be a good idea for you to read up a bit about disk formatting. The MacBook will let you know if the external hard drive you choose for the Time Machine backup needs formatting before the backup can be done. Ordinarily you would use APFS formatting. If you want to use the Seagate drive to also store other data, you would need to partition the drive, i.e. create one or more additional volume(s) on it, as Time Machine backups cannot share space with other data in the same volume.

No need to eject the drive before updating the MacOS.

Reply

Answer 3

Mar 28, 2025 12:52 PM in response to robnich

Awesome Rob, Thanks! I'm not sure how I format the Seagate… and how can I tell if it needs to be formatted? It's called Ultra Touch … and should I eject it before I update to Sequoia 15.3.2??

Reply

Quick Links

Time machine update installing a new 2025 seagate