When I research "finding when my Mac was last backed-up, I repeatedly get instructions to go to "time machine" in the settings>apple ID. My Mac has no such thing listed. I go to icloud in the settings but no where there does it tell me when last backed up nor does it have a choice of "back up now"......??
MacBook Air 13″, macOS 15.7
Time Machine settings are located in Apple menu > System Settings > General > Time Machine.
Time Machine does not back up to iCloud; it backs up to an external device. See: Back up your Mac with Time Machine - Apple Support
and Backup disks you can use with Time Machine - Apple Support
Apple offers iCloud Backup for iPhones and iPads but not for Mac computers.
It is possible to sync data from a Mac to iCloud if you turn on those options (e.g., iCloud Photos, iCloud Drive including the Desktop & Documents option). Syncing has some of the benefits of a backup (and the benefit of being offsite) but is not the same as a backup. Major differences include the fact that not everything on your Mac can be synced and the fact that if you delete something, accidentally or otherwise, there is only a limited time period (30 days in most cases) during which it can be recovered.
Also see the Apple article: How to back up your Mac - Official Apple Support
And more information on syncing in:
Set up and use iCloud Photos - Apple Support
and
Set up iCloud Drive on all your devices - Apple Support
and
Add your Desktop and Documents files to iCloud Drive - Apple Support
Time Machine settings are located in Apple menu > System Settings > General > Time Machine.
Time Machine does not back up to iCloud; it backs up to an external device. See: Back up your Mac with Time Machine - Apple Support
and Backup disks you can use with Time Machine - Apple Support
Apple offers iCloud Backup for iPhones and iPads but not for Mac computers.
It is possible to sync data from a Mac to iCloud if you turn on those options (e.g., iCloud Photos, iCloud Drive including the Desktop & Documents option). Syncing has some of the benefits of a backup (and the benefit of being offsite) but is not the same as a backup. Major differences include the fact that not everything on your Mac can be synced and the fact that if you delete something, accidentally or otherwise, there is only a limited time period (30 days in most cases) during which it can be recovered.
Also see the Apple article: How to back up your Mac - Official Apple Support
And more information on syncing in:
Set up and use iCloud Photos - Apple Support
and
Set up iCloud Drive on all your devices - Apple Support
and
Add your Desktop and Documents files to iCloud Drive - Apple Support
As to iCloud, if you use Optimize Storage on your Mac, then it's difficult to back up files that are not stored on it.
Time Machine is very cool, and it backs up your Mac to an external drive that you connect to your MacAir. After the first complete backup, it makes incremental backups that are very fast. For a desktop Mac, you keep the drive plugged in and it makes backups every hour. For a portable like a MacBook or MacAir, you plug in the drive when you get home, and it makes a backup of everything that has changed since the last one. Again, Time Machine doesn't backup files that kept in iCloud.
Backing up to icloud, Macbook
