The Mac App Store and downloadable software purchases have made it relatively easy to reinstall lost applications after a hard drive crash or data loss, but it’s still a time-consuming process even with a fast network connection.
The Applications folder, at Macintosh HD/Applications, is also prime target for backup. You’d probably be fine with not backing this folder up, but if you’re looking for a complete backup solution that lets you resume work immediately after restoring your data, it’s a good idea to grab this folder as well.
While all of your personal preferences and application support data should be in your user Library folder, which is backed up in the steps above, some applications, such as Microsoft Office, install various items to the system Library folder. If you have more than one user on your Mac, and you’re only interested in backing up your own data, just go one level deeper and select your user account from within the Users folder.Īnother location you may wish to back up is the system level Library folder, located at Macintosh HD/Library/. Each user account contains your Desktop files, documents, downloads, videos, music, and pictures. This will back up your user account, along with any other accounts on the Mac, plus any shared data. When choosing what to backup manually, first and most importantly look to the Users folder, located by default at Macintosh HD/Users/. These suggestions apply to virtually any service or software that allows for selective backup.