Can I use my time machine back up external drive to keep other files

Joined
Feb 5, 2012
Messages
203
Reaction score
0
Points
16
after partitioning the drive and backing up through time machine, can I use the external drive to keep other files. it's a 1 T.B drive and I have about 300 GB of back up
 
Joined
Jan 20, 2012
Messages
5,068
Reaction score
431
Points
83
Location
North Carolina
Your Mac's Specs
Air M2 ('22) OS 14.3; M3 iMac ('23) OS 14.3; iPad Pro; iPhone 14
after partitioning the drive and backing up through time machine, can I use the external drive to keep other files. it's a 1 T.B drive and I have about 300 GB of back up

The usual recommendation regarding Time Machine (TM) on an external HD is to dedicate the drive to that purpose only - I'm using two Seagate 1 TB external HDs for TM on my iMac & MBPro - in addition to using CCC (Carbon Copy Cloner) on both computers on an OWC drive w/ 2 partitions, I also have an online service (Carbonite) backing up my wife's personal files on the iMac, and a LaCie external SSD for my personal files on the MBPro.

My suggestion is NOT to put your 'eggs in one basket' - Dave :)
 

Slydude

Well-known member
Staff member
Moderator
Joined
Nov 15, 2009
Messages
17,612
Reaction score
1,078
Points
113
Location
North Louisiana, USA
Your Mac's Specs
M1 MacMini 16 GB - Ventura, iPhone 14 Pro Max, 2015 iMac 16 GB Monterey
You can do it that way. Time Machine won't complain either way. The problem with having all the files on one drive is that if the drive fails you may loose the Time Machine backup and other files.
 

Shop Amazon


Shop for your Apple, Mac, iPhone and other computer products on Amazon.
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites.
Top