The Best Cloud Backup for Mac in 2026 (and How to Back Up Your Mac)

A Mac can be replaced. Ten years of photos, a half-finished thesis and every tax return can’t. The good news: a complete backup takes about 20 minutes to set up, and then it simply runs.

This guide explains how to back up a Mac properly, starting with Time Machine, then compares the best cloud backup for Mac so your files survive even if your Mac and your backup drive don’t.

The 3-2-1 rule

Every good backup plan follows one simple rule:

• 3 copies of your data: the original plus two backups.
• 2 different types of storage, like your Mac’s internal drive and an external drive.
• 1 copy off-site, somewhere a fire, flood or burglary at home can’t reach.

For a Mac, that’s easy: your Mac, a Time Machine drive and a cloud backup. Time Machine gives you fast restores. Cloud backup makes sure something always survives.

How to back up a Mac with Time Machine

Time Machine is built into every Mac and it’s free. It backs up your files, apps, accounts and settings, everything you need to rebuild your Mac. It’s local, not cloud. Your backups live on an external drive, a network storage device that supports Time Machine, or a shared folder on another Mac.

Choose a drive with roughly twice your Mac’s storage capacity, and use it only for backups.

Set up Time Machine

1. Connect your external drive with USB or Thunderbolt.
2. Choose Apple menu › System Settings.
3. Click General in the sidebar, then click Time Machine.
4. Click Add Backup Disk, or click the Add (+) button.
5. Select your drive, then click Set Up Disk.
6. Turn on Encrypt Backup and create a backup password. Save it in your password manager; you’ll need it to restore.
7. Click Done. If your Mac asks to erase the drive, make sure nothing else on it matters first.

The first backup can take a while. After that, Time Machine works quietly in the background. On macOS Monterey and earlier, choose System Preferences › Time Machine › Select Backup Disk instead.

Tip: To back up right away, choose Back Up Now from the Time Machine menu in the menu bar. Don’t see it? Add it in System Settings › Control Center.

What Time Machine keeps

Time Machine keeps hourly backups for the past 24 hours, daily backups for the past month and weekly backups for every month before that. When the drive fills up, the oldest backups are deleted to make room. To back up less often, open Time Machine settings, click Options and change Back up frequency.

Restore a file

1. Open the Finder window where the file used to be.
2. Choose Browse Time Machine Backups from the Time Machine menu in the menu bar.
3. Use the timeline on the edge of the screen to go back to when the file existed.
4. Select it and click Restore.

To restore an entire Mac, or move everything to a new one, use Migration Assistant and choose your Time Machine backup.

Why Time Machine isn’t enough

Your backup drive usually sits right next to your Mac. A burst pipe, a fire, a power surge or a thief will likely take both. Ransomware can reach a connected drive too. That’s why the “1 off-site” copy matters, and why cloud backup exists.

Tip: Time Machine also keeps local snapshots on your Mac’s own drive, which show up in the gray System Data bar in Storage settings. macOS removes them automatically when it needs space. Our guide to System Data on Mac explains more.

Why iCloud Drive is sync, not backup

iCloud Drive is wonderful for keeping files the same on your Mac, iPhone and iPad. That’s exactly why it isn’t a backup.

• Mistakes sync too. Delete a folder or overwrite a document on one device, and the change spreads to every device.
• Recovery is short. Deleted iCloud Drive files stay in Recently Deleted on iCloud.com for 30 days, then they’re gone for good.
• It isn’t everything. iCloud Drive doesn’t cover your apps, settings or files stored outside it, even with Desktop & Documents Folders syncing turned on.
• It’s one account. If you’re locked out of your Apple Account, your files are locked out with it.

Dropbox, Google Drive and OneDrive work the same way. They keep deleted files and older versions for a limited window, usually around 30 days on personal plans. Keep using them for sync. Just don’t count them as one of your three copies.

The best cloud backup for Mac, compared

A true cloud backup service copies everything you choose to a remote data center automatically, keeps older versions, and lets you restore even after you’ve deleted a file locally.

Service	Price model	Storage	Versioning	Restore options	Encryption
Backblaze	Subscription (monthly, yearly or 2-year)	Unlimited, one computer	30 days, 1 year free, or forever (paid)	Web download, USB drive by mail	Optional private key
IDrive	Annual subscription; free 10 GB tier	Fixed storage tiers, many devices	Up to 30 versions per file	Download, IDrive Express drive shipping	Optional private key
Arq	One-time license or Premium subscription	Your own cloud or NAS, or Arq’s storage	Configurable, snapshot-based	Restore from the app	End-to-end, always on
Carbonite	Annual subscription	Unlimited, one computer	Up to 12 versions	Download; courier recovery (extra fee)	Encrypted
CrashPlan	Subscription, business-focused	Varies by plan	Unlimited versions on business plans	Download from the app	Encrypted
iCloud Drive / Dropbox	Free tier; subscription	Fixed plan size	About 30 days	Recently Deleted, version history	iCloud: end-to-end with Advanced Data Protection

Backblaze Personal Backup

Best for: Most Mac users · Price: Subscription · Website

Backblaze is the closest thing to set-and-forget. Install it, and it backs up all your user data plus connected external drives, with no file-size limits and no storage cap for one computer. You don’t pick folders; it simply grabs everything that matters and skips system files and apps you can reinstall.

Version history is 30 days by default, and you can extend it to one year for free in your account settings. Do it on day one. A paid Forever option keeps old versions indefinitely. To restore, download files from the website or the mobile app, or have Backblaze ship you a USB drive and refund the fee when you send it back within 30 days. For privacy, set a private encryption key so only you can unlock your backup.

Tip: Plug external drives in at least once every 30 days. Backblaze treats a drive that stays disconnected longer as removed, and emails you warnings before that happens.

• Pros: Unlimited storage, effortless setup, free one-year version history, physical restore drives
• Cons: One computer per license; it backs up files, not a bootable copy of your Mac

IDrive

Best for: Backing up several Macs, PCs and phones on one plan · Price: Annual subscription; small free tier · Website

IDrive charges for storage, not computers, so one account can cover every Mac, PC, iPhone and Android device in your home. It keeps up to 30 previous versions of each file, and those versions don’t count against your storage. You can set a private encryption key that IDrive never stores. For a big restore, IDrive Express ships your data on a physical drive so you’re not waiting on a download.

There’s a free tier with 10 GB, which is enough to try it but not to protect a whole Mac.

• Pros: Many devices on one account, generous versioning, physical restore option
• Cons: Storage is capped by plan; the app is busier than Backblaze’s

Arq

Best for: Power users who want to choose where backups live · Price: One-time license or Arq Premium subscription · Website

Arq is backup software, not a storage service. You bring the storage: Amazon S3, Backblaze B2, Wasabi, Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox, an SFTP server, a NAS or an external drive, even several at once. It uses filesystem snapshots for consistent point-in-time backups, encrypts everything end to end before it leaves your Mac, and stores it in an open, documented format.

The Arq 7 license is a one-time purchase that includes a year of updates. Arq Premium, a subscription, adds built-in cloud storage, web access to your backups and the app for up to five computers. There’s a 30-day free trial.

• Pros: Your storage, your rules; strong encryption; no lock-in
• Cons: More setup than all-in-one services; storage is a separate cost unless you choose Premium

Carbonite

Best for: People who want unlimited backup with antivirus bundled · Price: Annual subscription · Website

Carbonite Safe supports Macs, with unlimited storage for one computer on all three plans: Basic, Plus and Prime. Basic doesn’t back up external drives; Plus and Prime add one external drive, automatic video backup and Webroot antivirus. Carbonite keeps up to 12 versions of changed files. Courier recovery is available for an extra fee.

It works well, with a few Mac caveats. You’ll need to grant it Full Disk Access, and restoring an earlier version of a file on a Mac puts it back in its original location, replacing the current copy. Restore to a duplicate first if you’re unsure.

• Pros: Unlimited storage, simple plans, antivirus included on higher tiers
• Cons: External drive backup costs more; fewer versions than rivals

CrashPlan

Best for: Freelancers and small businesses · Price: Subscription · Website

CrashPlan left the home backup market in 2018 and now focuses on businesses. Its small-business plan is a per-user subscription that runs on macOS, Windows and Linux, with unlimited file versions. CrashPlan has also offered a low-cost Essential plan for individuals with a storage cap, so check its pricing page for what’s currently available.

It’s an excellent choice if you work for yourself and want business-grade retention. For a family Mac, Backblaze is simpler.

• Pros: Unlimited versioning, business-grade tools, cross-platform
• Cons: Business-first plans and pricing; less suited to home users

Sync services, for contrast

Best for: Sharing and syncing, not backup · Price: Free tier; subscription · iCloud

iCloud Drive, Dropbox, Google Drive and OneDrive belong in your setup, just not as your backup. Use them to reach files from any device and to share with others. If you use iCloud, turn on Advanced Data Protection for end-to-end encryption of iCloud Drive.

• Pros: Instant access everywhere, easy sharing
• Cons: Deletions and damage sync; short recovery window

Set up a complete backup in 20 minutes

Here’s the whole plan, start to finish.

1. Buy an external drive with about twice your Mac’s storage. (2 minutes, plus shipping)
2. Set up Time Machine with Encrypt Backup turned on, as shown above. (5 minutes)
3. Save the backup password in your password manager. (1 minute)
4. Sign up for a cloud backup service. Backblaze is the easy default. (3 minutes)
5. Install the app and choose a private encryption key if you want one. Store the key in your password manager too. (3 minutes)
6. Extend version history to one year (Backblaze) or check retention settings (others). (1 minute)
7. Grant Full Disk Access if the app asks: System Settings › Privacy & Security › Full Disk Access. (1 minute)
8. Keep your Mac plugged in and awake for the first upload. It can take days. (2 minutes to change settings)
9. Test a restore. Restore one file from Time Machine and one from the cloud. A backup you’ve never tested is a hope, not a plan. (2 minutes)

Then add a reminder to check both backups once a month.

Warning: Lose your encryption password or private key and nobody, including the backup company, can recover your data. Store it somewhere other than the Mac you’re backing up.

Keep your backups healthy

• Mind the space. If your Mac is nearly full, backups take longer and Time Machine drives fill sooner. Our guide to freeing up space on Mac helps, and a disk space analyzer for Mac shows what’s taking room.
• Protect against ransomware. Cloud backups with versioning are your best defense. Read do Macs need antivirus for the rest of the picture.
• Access files remotely. Cloud backups let you download a file from anywhere. To use your whole Mac from afar, see how to remote access a Mac.

How we picked

We looked for backup services that support current macOS and judged them on:

• Coverage: Whether they back up everything by default, including external drives
• Versioning: How long old and deleted versions are kept
• Restore options: Web download, app restore and physical drive shipping
• Encryption: Whether you can hold your own private key
• Price model: Subscription, one-time or bring-your-own-storage, without quoting prices that change

We confirmed each service’s current plans and Mac support on its official site, and verified Time Machine steps against Apple Support. Sync services were included only for comparison, because they aren’t backups.