It's normal to take several hours to finish a restore from Time Machine, however, if Time Machine shows ' searching for Time Machine backups' for more than 30 minutes or even an hour, obviously your Mac is getting stuck in the process and it will take forever to finish unless you apply some measures to tackle it.

The connection between the backup disk and Mac: It is quicker for Mac to find the Time Machine disk when the backup disk is communicating with your Mac on a USB 3.0 connection.

The speed of the backup disk: It takes a shorter time to detect a Time Machine backup disk if the backup disk can read and write data fast.

There are mainly 2 factors that decide how long it takes to search for Time Machine backups. When it shows ' searching for Time Machine backup', the Mac is trying to recognize and communicate with the backup. How Long Does Searching for Time Machine Backups Take?

FAQs about Restoring from Time Machine Backups.

How Long Does Searching for Time Machine Backups Take?.

To do so, simply use Migration Assistant found in Applications > Utilities. You can even do it after the macOS initial setup process. Step 7: Once complete, click Start using your MacĪs you can see, restoring a Time Machine backup is extremely straightforward. Step 6: Your information will now begin restoring to your Mac Step 5: You’ll be asked about disk encryption-select your preference and click Continue Step 4: For a full restore, check all of the boxes on the Select the Information to Transfer screen and click Continue Step 3: Select the desired backup from the disk and click Continue Step 2: Make sure your drive is connected, and select the disk that contains your Time Machine backup and click Continue Step 1: On the Transfer Information to This Mac screen, choose the first option-From a Mac, Time Machine backup, or startup disk and click Continue

Note: these screenshots are photos taken with my iPhone’s camera, as macOS doesn’t allow you to take screenshots during the setup process. How to restore a Time Machine backup on a new Mac To learn how to perform a Time Machine backup, see our how to set up Time Machine tutorial.

You’ll then use this Time Machine backup to restore on your new machine.

In this fifth tutorial in our Time Machine how-to series, we’ll show you how easy it is.įirst and foremost, you’ll need to perform a Time Machine backup on your old machine. This makes it so that you can essentially pick up where you left off from your old machine or old installation.įortunately, restoring Time Machine backups to a new Mac is extremely easy and straightforward. One of the primary benefits of using Time Machine is that it allows you to restore your backup on a new Mac or a new macOS installation.

Install time machine on mac