Back up and restore your MacBook Neo
It’s important to back up the files on your MacBook Neo regularly to keep them safe. There are two ways to backup your files: iCloud or Time Machine.
Sync and store data to iCloud
What is iCloud? iCloud is the service from Apple that securely stores your photos, files, notes, passwords, and other data in the cloud and keeps it up to date across all your devices, automatically.
Why use iCloud? You can store the documents and data that you choose—things like photos, videos, contacts, calendars, notes, passwords, and more. It also keeps them up to date on all of your Apple devices where you’re signed in to your Apple Account, and you can even access them on on the web at iCloud.com. iCloud doesn’t back up your entire Mac.
What you need to use iCloud. To use iCloud, you need an Apple Account. You have 5 GB of storage on iCloud to get started, and can purchase additional storage if you need it.
Use Time Machine to back up your Mac to a storage device
What is Time Machine? Time Machine is built into your Mac and automatically backs up your MacBook Neo. It allows you to recover specific files as well as restore your entire system if anything ever happens to your Mac.
Why use Time Machine? With Time Machine you can back up your entire Mac, which means if anything ever happens to your Mac, you can restore it to a previous version. You can also choose to restore specific files.
What you need to use Time Machine. To use Time Machine, you need an external hard drive.
Time Machine can help if you ever need to reinstall macOS. Your operating system files are kept separate from your personal files in a sealed system disk. However, some actions, like erasing or inadvertently damaging a disk, require that you restore your MacBook Neo. If you ever need to reinstall macOS, you can use Time Machine to restore your personal files from your backup.
Note: With macOS 11 and later, there are several ways to restore your Mac. You may be required to install a newer version of macOS than what your computer originally came with, or what you were using before the disk was damaged. To learn more about these options, see Recover all your files from a Time Machine backup and the Apple Support article How to reinstall macOS.
Want to learn more?
For a walk-through on how to set up a Time Machine backup and restore individual files, see Back up your files with Time Machine and Time Machine troubleshooting on Mac.
To learn more about how to set up iCloud, see Introduction to iCloud and Set up iCloud on your Mac.
Have a new Mac and want to restore it from a Time Machine backup? See Restore your Mac from a backup.