It is vitally important that you back up your Mac. Whether you do so locally using Time Machine, sending it to a cloud service, or installing a duplicate creation program (or all three). There is nothing more important than backing up your computer in case an unfortunate event happens so you don't lose your precious data.
One of the easiest methods is locally, using Time Machine. Another is by backing up your data via a cloud-based service, like Backblaze or CrashPlan. Here, we're going to explain how to clone your Mac using a program like SuperDuper! or Carbon Copy Cloner.
The difference between cloning and using Time Machine
Oct 15, 2019 Secure way to clone all contents of a hard drive to another hard drive. AweClone for Mac is 100% safe disk clone software for macOS Catalina. It also can help you clone hard drive in other macOS or OS X versions. Just free download it here. Until macOS 10.15 Catalina, Mac users knew: their startup volume was a single volume, just as it appeared! (Okay, for Fusion drive users, there are two physical drives managed by software to. Jun 15, 2016 Create exact clone of Macintosh HD with dd command line. It is always suggested to make an exact copy or mirror image of your Mac hard drive. May 02, 2014 CCC is a completely native OS X application that handles cloning perfectly. It even allows one to boot directly from the external drive in the event that your internal drive fails.
Local backups through Time Machine, cloud-based backups, and clones all serve a great purpose to keep your data safe in case of an unfortunate even that renders your Mac useless (even temporarily). The thing that makes cloning different is that you can create a bootable copy of your entire hard drive, which means you can access everything on one Mac through another simply by exporting it to an external drive, connecting the drive to the other Mac, and then selecting it from the Startup menu.
Clones are great to have around if, for example, you have to take your Mac in for repairs, but still need to continue working while it's out. You can use the cloned copy while it's in the shop.
Most cloning programs have additional features that include the ability to make regularly scheduled backups. This is ideal since, if something happens to your computer, you aren't necessarily going to want to restore from a year-old backup. I highly recommend investing in these additional features if they are offered with the cloning program you are using (for example, SuperDuper! is free to clone, but costs a licensing fee of $28 for scheduling, smart updates, sandboxes, and scripting).
Before you start
Before you get started, make sure you have an external hard drive with enough storage to fit everything on your Mac. The smartest solution is to use a portable hard drive.
You'll also need to download and install your cloning program. I'm using SuperDuper! from Shirt Pocket for this process. Most cloning programs operate pretty much the same. They will always have a detailed how-to guide to walk you through the steps.
How to prepare your external drive to use for your clone
You'll need to start with a clean external hard drive in order to make a bootable drive for your cloned backup.
- Connect your external drive into the appropriate port on your Mac.
- Use Spotlight to search for the Disk Utility app.
Double-click on Disk Utility to open it.
Source: iMore
- Find the hard drive under External and select it. It will usually be named after the company that made it.
Click the Erase tab at the top of the window.
Source: iMore
- Name the drive something that you will remember. I renamed mine 'mbp.' You will need to remember this name when you create a bootable drive.
- Select macOS Extended (Journaled) from the format list.
- Click Erase.
- Click Done once the process is complete.
Close the Disk Utility window.
Source: iMore
Your hard drive is now formatted for cloning your Mac.
How to make a clone of your Mac
After you've downloaded and installed your cloning program, you'll need to open it to get started. I'm using SuperDuper! to make a clone for this guide, so I'll reference it here.
Note: You'll need your administrator password in order to make a clone of your Mac.
- Use Spotlight to search for the SuperDuper! app.
- Double-click on SuperDuper! to open it.
- Select your Mac's hard drive from the drop-down menu next to 'Copy.'
Select the external hard drive from the drop-down menu next to 'to.'
Source: iMore
- Make sure Backup - all files is selected in the drop-down menu next to 'using' (Backup - user files does not create a bootable clone).
Click Copy Now to begin the process.
Source: iMore
- Enter your Administrator password when prompted.
- Click Copy when asked to confirm that you want to erase the external hard drive and then copy the files to it from your Mac.
Click OK when the process is complete.
Source: iMore
Most cloning programs will operate the same, general way. If you don't understand the process for the program you have chosen, refer to the user guide.
How to restore your Mac from a clone
If there is any reason you end up needing to restore your Mac from a backup, you can use a clone to do so.
- Turn off your Mac.
- Connect your external drive into the appropriate port on your Mac.
- Turn on your Mac.
- Hold down the Command and R keys as soon as the system restarts to enter Recovery Mode. Your Mac will boot to the macOS Utilities screen.
- Click on Disk Utility and then click continue.
- Select your hard drive.
- Click on the Restore tab at the top of the Disk Utility window.
- Select your external drive next to 'Restore From.'
- Select your Mac's hard drive next to 'Restore to.'
- Click Restore.
Once the backup has finished restoring, restart your computer.
How to boot your clone on another Mac
If you want to work on your backup on another computer while it's in the shop, you can boot it up from the startup menu.
Important: You'll need to partition your hard drive in order to boot your clone as a separate startup disk. Be sure to do that before following the steps below.
- Turn off your Mac.
- Connect your external drive into the appropriate port on your Mac.
- Turn on your Mac.
- Hold down the Option key as soon as you hear the startup chime.
- Select the external drive with the clone backup on it from the list of systems to start up your computer.
Now, you can use the clone to restore files to your partitioned drive.
Any questions?
Do you have any questions about how to clone your Mac so you can use it as a backup? Put them in the comments and I'll help you out.
Updated March 2020: Updated for MacBook Air.
Backing up: The ultimate guide
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When you want to a solution to clone hard disk drive after upgrading your MacOS to macOS Catalina, you can read this article. We will show you easy steps to clone/copy a hard drive to another hard drive/storage device under macOS Catalina.
Download best disk clone software for macOS Catalina
Disk clone software for macOS Catalina is the reliable tool which can help you clone hard disk drive in macOS Catalina. Here, we offer AweClone for Mac, one of the best disk clone software for macOS Catalina. It can help you clone HDD, SSD, USB drive, memory card, macOS Catalina system, etc after upgrading to macOS Catalina. Just free download AweClone for Mac by clicking the download button:
Two modes to clone hard drive in macOS Catalina
AweClone for macOS Catalina is very easy-to-use. It offers easy and safe solution to clone hard drive under macOS Catalina or other Mac OS system. Now, just run it from Launchpad. It gives you two modes to clone a hard drive from one to another in macOS Catalina.
Mode 1: Copy hard drive in macOS Catalina
'Disk Copy' mode is able to 1:1 copy a hard drive from one to another. It is also the best way to clone an entire hard drive in macOS Catalina. It also allows you to selectively copy data from one hard drive to another hard drive.
Step 1: Choose source drive and destination drive.
Run AweClone for Mac, choose mode 'Disk Copy'. You should choose a source drive and the destination drive. AweClone for Mac will copy the source drive data to the destination drive.
Step 2: Clone the source drive to the destination drive.
After selecting the source drive and destination drive, just click on 'Copy Now' button so that the software is able to copy data from the source drive to the destination drive.
Once the clone is completed, you can check the cloned data on the destination drive.
Mode 2: Create disk image of a hard drive in macOS Catalina
Clone Mac Os X To New Hard Drive
'Create Image Backup' mode will help you create a disk image of a hard drive and save it to a destination drive. It is the disk-saving way to backup your data in macOS Catalina.
Step 1: Choose mode 'Create Image Backup'.
Choose clone mode 'Create Image Backup', then choose the source drive and destination drive.
Step 2: Create disk image of the source drive.
Click 'Create Image', then this software will create a .zip or .dmg disk image of the source drive and save the disk image to the destination drive.
Clone Mac Os X To External Drive
You can check the disk image on the destination drive when the process gets finished.
With AweClone for Mac, the macOS Catalina users are able to easily and securely clone a hard drive in macOS Catalina or backup data after upgrading to macOS Catalina.
Benefits of disk clone in macOS Catalina:
- Easy way to make a backup of important data in macOS Catalina.
- Easy way to migrate data in macOS Catalina.
- Secure way to clone all contents of a hard drive to another hard drive.
AweClone for Mac is 100% safe disk clone software for macOS Catalina. It also can help you clone hard drive in other macOS or OS X versions. Just free download it here:
Magoshare also offers other tools or solutions for macOS Catalina: