This article explains starting macOS Time Machine backups to My Cloud and Network Attached Storage.*END
IMPORTANT:
Apple File Protocol (AFP) is no longer supported on My Cloud OS 5 firmware 5.19.197 and My Cloud Home firmware 7.16.0-217 and higher.
WD My Cloud drives and other WD Network Attached Storage (NAS) devices can be used with the Time Machine backup application built into macOS.
WD external USB drives such as My Passport, My Book, WD easystore portable, easystore Desktop can also be used with Time Machine.
Please refer to Answer ID 18952: Time Machine Backup and Restore from macOS to a WD External Drive for assistance in configuring a WD external drive with Time Machine
Supported Operating System
macOS
- macOS 14 Sonoma
- macOS 13 Ventura
- macOS 12 Monterey
Please update the version of macOS being used to the latest release.
For assistance with updating macOS please see Apple article HT201541: Update the software on your Mac
Please ensure your WD Network Storage device firmware is up to date.
For assistance updating the firmware, please see the following articles:
IMPORTANT:
- Prevent the computer from entering sleep mode.
For more information, refer to Answer ID 24863: Why Initial macOS Time Machine Backup Fail?
- The default "TimeMachineBackup" share is preconfigure on all My Cloud products.
- Content added to this share is not indexed by the My Cloud or the Twonky DLNA Server.
- Always use the TimeMachineBackup share for macOS Time Machine backups for best performance.
- User created Shares are indexed and thumbnailed when My Cloud and DLNA Service is enabled resulting in slow backup speeds and My Cloud performance.
- Time Machine Encrypted backups are supported
For more information, please refer to Answer ID 26160: Setup an Encrypted Time Machine Backup on macOS
WD My Cloud and WD Network Attached Storage devices
Time Machine is a built-in utility within macOS that is used to backup files onto an external or network drive. In order to use Time Machine to backup to a WD My Cloud network drive, please follow the instructions below:
IMPORTANT:
Steps and screenshots may vary based on the version of macOS being used.
Please click on the links below to go to
backup or
restore section of the article
How to backup and
How to restore
How to Backup
macOS 13 and 14 (Ventura and Sonoma)
- Click on Apple icon and choose System Settings.
- Click on General and choose Time Machine.
- Choose Add Backup Disk.
- From the list of available drive, click TimeMachineBackup on MyCloudPR4100.local (drive’s name), and click on Set Up Disk.
- Choose Registered User or Guest and click Connect to continue.
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By default, the Time Machine share is set as Public. To configure Time Machine, choose Guest when prompted.
To use Time Machine with a private share (registered user), please follow the steps below:
- From the Dashboard of the drive, set a user password.
- Change the Time Machine share to private.
- Assign permission for the user on the Time Machine share.
- On the Mac, select "Registered User" on the Time Machine setup screen and enter the username and password.
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- Disable Encrypt Backup and click Done.
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By default, Encrypt Backup is enabled.
To use Encrypt Backup, please enter the password and click Done.
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- Wait for the Time Machine to configure and start the backup.
Allow the backup to run which may take several hours, or longer.
The date of the latest backup will be displayed in the Time Machine panel along with the date of the next backup.
Older macOS
- Click on Apple icon and choose System Preferences
- Open Time Machine
- Make sure Show Time Machine in menu bar is enabled so it can be accessed from the menu bar
- Please note that the ON / OFF switch has been changed to Back Up Automatically on macOS 10.12 (Sierra)
- Click the Time Machine icon from the menu bar and go to Open Time Machine Preferences
- Choose Select Disk
- From the list of available drives, click TimeMachineBackup/TimeMachine on WDMYCLOUD (drive's name), and click on Use Backup Disk
- Choose Registered User or Guest and click Connect to continue
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By default, the Time Machine share is set as Public. To configure Time Machine, choose Guest when prompted.
To use Time Machine with a private share (registered user), please follow the steps below:
- From the Dashboard of the drive, set a user password
- Change the Time Machine share to private
- Assign permission for the user on the Time Machine share
- On the Mac, select "Registered User" on the Time Machine setup screen and enter the username and password
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- Wait for the Time Machine to configure and start the backup
- Allow the backup to run which may take several hours
The date of the latest backup will be displayed in the Time Machine panel along with the date of the next backup
How to restore
For additional information regarding macOS Recovery and Migration Assistant, please refer to Apple article HT201250: Use Time Machine to back up or restore your Mac
- Click the Time Machine icon in the menu bar and choose Enter Time Machine
- Select the date and time to restore from
- Choose the files or folders to restore
- Click on Restore
- If the files already exist on the Mac, choose Keep Original, Keep Both, or Replace
- Open the restore location (Desktop, Documents, etc.) to view the restored folders and files
My Book Live and My Book Live Duo
Time Machine is a built-in utility within macOS that is used to backup files onto an external or network drive. In order to use Time Machine to backup to a My Book Live network drive, please click on
Using Time Machine on a My Book Live.