Mac storage basics · Purgeable space and local snapshots
Are local snapshots a real backup?
Short answer: No. They sit on the same drive as your files, so they don't protect against drive failure, theft or erasing. Keep a separate backup.
No. Local snapshots live on the same drive as your files, so if that drive fails, is stolen or is erased, the snapshots go with it. They're a convenience for restoring a recent version or a deleted file, not protection against losing the Mac.
A real backup is a separate copy on another device — a Time Machine drive, another backup disk, or a cloud backup. Storage Studio's Data Backup can also make copies to an external drive or a cloud account. See backups.