Time Machine Archives - defaults-write.com

Speed up Time Machine backups

Mr.R — Thu, 09 Aug 2018 18:26:40 +0000

Time Machine backups are great, but very slow when a large amount of data/files needs to be transferred (such as the initial back-up). As desgined by Apple the Time Machine background proces is running in a very low CPU priority, giving all other running applications en services priority.

With the following Terminal command you can temporary speed up the Time Machine backups:

sudo sysctl debug.lowpri_throttle_enabled=0

The command prevents Time Machine’s backup process assuming a low CPU priority, allowing backups to complete more quickly.

The command is not persistent and will become inactive after a reboot. If you want revert to the default setting without a reboot:

sudo sysctl debug.lowpri_throttle_enabled=1

Searching for more Time Machine tweaks? Check this!

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Time Machine: Setup a size limit for backup volumes

Mr.W — Mon, 20 Mar 2017 19:37:26 +0000

Time Machine will standard use all the available disk space on an external drive or a external server volume. Did you know you can setup a limit how much disk space Time Machine may use. Use the following defaults write Terminal command:

sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.TimeMachine MaxSize -integer XX

Replace XX by the number of megabytes that you want to use, 1 GB = 1024 MB

Example 200GB:

sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.TimeMachine MaxSize -integer 204800

To remove the limit:

sudo defaults delete /Library/Preferences/com.apple.TimeMachine MaxSize

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Setup a size limit for Time Machine backup volumes

Mr.R — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 18:00:11 +0000

Time Machine will standard use all the available disk space on an external drive or a external server volume. You can setup a limit how much disk space Time Machine may use. Use this defaults write Terminal command:

defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.TimeMachine MaxSize 405600

Where MaxSize 405600 is the MB equivalent of 400GB (400 * 1024)

To remove the limit:

defaults delete /Library/Preferences/com.apple.TimeMachine MaxSize

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Disable new disks requests for Time Machine

Mr.R — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 08:10:37 +0000

If you don’t use Time Machine, you might notice that every time you attach a empty hard disk to your Mac, you get asked if you want to use this hard disk Time Machine backups. Disable this dialog box with the following command:

defaults write com.apple.TimeMachine DoNotOfferNewDisksForBackup -bool true

Restart your Mac or log out and back in again for the changes to take effect.

Revert to defaults setting:

defaults delete com.apple.TimeMachine DoNotOfferNewDisksForBackup

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Change the Time Machine Backup Schedule

Mr.W — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 10:21:17 +0000

If you think Time Machine is backing up your Mac too often, you can customize the interval between two automatic scheduled backups. Use following command to change the Time Machine Backup Schedule.

sudo defaults write /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.backupd-auto StartInterval -int XXXX

Change XXXX to some other time interval in seconds, for one hour: 3600, for two hours: 7200, …

Revert to defaults setting:

sudo defaults write /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.backupd-auto StartInterval -int 3600

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