Recovering data from Time Machine backup

[rbpeirce]

I find TM to be great at restoring a program or a file but I am at a loss how to restore data such as old emails. How does one go about doing this? I know most, maybe all, the data is stored in your library somewhere but I have no idea how to find or identify it.

 

[MacInWin]

Recovering Mail is slightly different from recovering other files. For general files, to recover a file you launch TM, navigate back to the backup with the file you want using the side timeline, then find and highlight the file in the Finder-like window, and click "Restore." The file is then put back where it was in that backup.

Mail uses a complex system of files and folders to store the messages and attachments to those messages. You can try what this article suggests: How to recover a Mail folder from Time Machine in macOS

Be careful because if you restore the files in the Mail folder completely, it could set the ENTIRE Mail back to that date. The article has numbered steps. Note what step 5 says and do NOT recover to the original location. If you just do a recovery, the Mail system will be, at best, put back to the state of the backup completely, losing all emails that have arrived since the backup, or maybe even totally corrupted to the point where you have lost ALL emails. So read the entire article, go slowly and do it as the article suggests.

MAKE A FULL BACKUP OF YOUR SYSTEM BEFORE TRYING THIS! If Mail gets mucked up enough, you may have to do a full restore to get back to where you are now.

 

[rbpeirce]

That's cool. Thanks. However, the latest version of TM is not like the old version where you could drag a file to the desktop. The latest version actually shows the mailbox names but does not provide any way I can see to get them to the desktop. I was afraid to try to see what might happen if I just clicked Restore! I tried going into the backup itself and dragging it but I got an error when I tried to import it.

I need more help here and what about things like Contacts and Notes data and similar programs?

 

[MacInWin]

However, the latest version of TM is not like the old version where you could drag a file to the desktop. The latest version actually shows the mailbox names but does not provide any way I can see to get them to the desktop.

I have been using TM for a very long time and I don't recall that it ever allowed a drag to the desktop to restore. But I'll drop out and let someone else try to help.

Good luck with it.

 

[rbpeirce]

I have been using TM for a very long time and I don't recall that it ever allowed a drag to the desktop to restore. But I'll drop out and let someone else try to help.

Maybe I am taking advantage but the TM backup drive is mounted and it is easy to use Finder to navigate where you want to go. I think I did mis-speak in that while even now you can drag-and-drop a file or image I never tried that with a mailbox so maybe it never worked.

Regardless, I still don't know the correct way to restore a mailbox with the current system and help is no help. I have no idea what happens if you just click Restore and I'm afraid to try it! Also I don't have any idea where to look for data stored by other apps like Contacts, Notes, etc.

 

[ferrarr]

However, the latest version of TM is not like the old version where you could drag a file to the desktop.

That sounds like you just used Finder, not Time Machine?

 

[rbpeirce]

That sounds like you just used Finder, not Time Machine?

I have if I know what I'm looking for. It is a lot quicker.

 

[MacInWin]

I have if I know what I'm looking for. It is a lot quicker.

But very dangerous. A TM backup will mount, particularly the new snapshot variety, and you can copy/paste from it to anywhere, but if you do anything that tries to write to those backups, you can lose all of them and have to start over again.

Bottom line: Don't use Finder to mess with TM backups.

Going back to Mail, the messages in Mail are stored in folders and then linked to another folder that holds any attachments to each message. So, it's not as easy as copy/paste as the links act more like a database than just a file folder.

 

[rbpeirce]

But very dangerous. A TM backup will mount, particularly the new snapshot variety, and you can copy/paste from it to anywhere, but if you do anything that tries to write to those backups, you can lose all of them and have to start over again.

Bottom line: Don't use Finder to mess with TM backups.

Going back to Mail, the messages in Mail are stored in folders and then linked to another folder that holds any attachments to each message. So, it's not as easy as copy/paste as the links act more like a database than just a file folder.

I've never tried to write to a backup. Dragging something from it ought to be fairly safe since the backup itself isn't altered in any way.

As far as mail and any other app that stores it own data, I still don't know how to restore. I can find the mail backups but I don't know how to recover one if I need to. Three I use all the time are 1Password, Contacts and Notes. Some 1Password data is in the library but the data makes no sense to me. Google has methods for recovering but none seem to work. For example, I don't have ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.Notes. Searching Google suggests there may not be any good method to recover any of this stuff.

Fortunately, I can use UltData to recover any saved Contact and Note information from my iPhone but that's about it.

 

[rbpeirce]

As a test I tried to "Recover" the latest Mail backup. It turns out there is no problem trying to do this because TM won't let you! The Recover button is greyed out. In fact, as near as I can tell TM won't let you recover anything in ~/Library. It's all off limits. Further, the files are not in the right format to import to mail so I'm pretty much stuck

 

[rbpeirce]

I think I'm making progress but Time Machine wasn't the answer I was looking for. Here is a summary of those apps I use that store data I may need to recover.

1Password stores its DB in ~/Library so it cannot be restored using TM. OTOH, it can be dragged-and-dropped from an older TM backup using Finder. I haven't tried it but based on my iPhone comments below it ought to work.

Old Contacts and Notes can be recovered from iPhone backup archives using UltData. I keep month-end backups for three months as well as the last week. No guarantee but close enough. The problem is if the backups themselves are lost. They are stored in ~/Library so not directly recoverable using TM. However, they can be accessed by going into a TM backup using Finder and dragging-and-dropping them. This is very time consuming but works. I tried it.

Mail has the capability to delete old mails as required, say older than a year. The problem is to find the one you're looking for, but it is there somewhere. OTOH, a deleted mailbox is gone and I can't find a way to recover it. Total loss of mail can probably be restored via d-a-d from ~/Library in older TM backups.

Things keeps a backup of completed items gong back over a year. I have no solution for losing something without deleting it but that may not be possible. If the Things DB itself is lost it can be found in old TM backups in ~/Library. Again, d-a-d works but takes a long while.

I can't think of any other app I use that keeps its own data in something other than a directory tree somewhere. I am disappointed that Apple makes it so hard to recover this stuff. It may be a way to protect us from ourselves, but there ought to be a way around it.

 

[MacInWin]

1Password stores its DB in ~/Library so it cannot be restored using TM.

Wrong. ~/Library is YOUR library and can be restored from TM. Open TM, use the Finder-like window to navigate to your account and a folder named "Library" should be there. That is ~/Library. (Background, the "~" is short for /Users/<<your account>>, so ~/Library is actually /Users/<<your account>>/Library, and is located in YOUR space, so backed up and able to be restored.)

They are stored in ~/Library so not directly recoverable using TM.

See the above.

Total loss of mail can probably be restored via d-a-d from ~/Library in older TM backups.

See the above. TM will restore Mail files, BUT it restores ALL of the files to that date, so emails arriving after the date/time the backup was made won't be there. They could, I suppose, be redownloaded from your mail server if you don't go back too far.

the Things DB itself is lost it can be found in old TM backups in ~/Library. Again, d-a-d works but takes a long while.

See the above. You never need to use Finder to restore anything TM backs up, and it backs up ~/Library. Background again: /Library, without the "~" is the System Library and is NOT backed up, nor available to the user. But ~/Library is yours and you can do whatever you want within it.

 

[rbpeirce]

Wrong. ~/Library is YOUR library and can be restored from TM. Open TM, use the Finder-like window to navigate to your account and a folder named "Library" should be there. That is ~/Library. (Background, the "~" is short for /Users/<<your account>>, so ~/Library is actually /Users/<<your account>>/Library, and is located in YOUR space, so backed up and able to be restored.)

I can see it with no problem but the Restore button is greyed out for all ~/Library entries on my computer. If that's not the way it is supposed to be then I need to find out how to fix it because I can't use TM to restore anything in ~/Library.

I can go into the TM hard disk with Finder and drag-and-drop pretty much anything.

 

[rbpeirce]

Thanks. I explored further and found ~/Library is greyed out for some backup dates but not others. The same thing seems to apply to other backups as well. Now I wonder what is going on there! I have two TM backup drives. I need to check if one is not working properly.

 

[MacInWin]

The Restore button is greyed out for the latest backup because that is what is the NOW system looks like. Go back in time and the Restore button will light up. I just did it and my entire ~/Library is able of restoration.

 

[rbpeirce]

The Restore button is greyed out for the latest backup because that is what is the NOW system looks like. Go back in time and the Restore button will light up. I just did it and my entire ~/Library is able of restoration.

This is weird but when I go back Restore lights on some ~/Library backups but not others. I checked each backup so far today. Most of the time Restore lights for every backup outside ~/Library but misses quite a few ~/Library backups. I checked previous days with the same result.

What's more weird is directories at the same time will be Restorable or not when you click on them. By that I mean the first time you click them they are Restorable or not. Later if you click on them it is reversed. Clearly I have no idea what is going on inside Time Machine!

 

[MacInWin]

Just guessing, but I wonder if the non-restoring folders have no changes in the from the just previous backup? In any event, I only make backups twice a day with TM, and all of my copies are restorable. Don't know what's happening with yours, but it doesn't sound right.

 

[rbpeirce]

Just guessing, but I wonder if the non-restoring folders have no changes in the from the just previous backup? In any event, I only make backups twice a day with TM, and all of my copies are restorable. Don't know what's happening with yours, but it doesn't sound right.

I'm not sure how I would know. What I have discovered when the directory itself is not recoverable any files within it are. This is the case inside and outside ~/Library. It is as if TM doesn't want you to recover some full directories. Is that possible?

OTOH, apps, which actually are directories, are recoverable, as are some directories, so this isn't universal. It is baffling and I cannot determine why some directories are recoverable and some aren't. It is very confusing.

 

[MacInWin]

I would say don't overthink it. If the files you want are recoverable, recover them.