Backup schedules and triggers

Each backup set decides for itself when to run. Choose As things change, On a schedule or Only when I ask, and optionally add conditions such as only when the Mac is plugged in. Whatever you choose, Back up now on the set's card starts a backup straight away.

Changing it

On the set's card, the line under its folders says when it runs — for example "Backs up as things change" or "Every day at 02:00 · only on power". Click Change… beside it to open When to back up, make your choice and click Done. The line only appears once the set has a destination and something to back up.

Automatic and scheduled runs only happen while Back up automatically is on for the set.

The three modes

As things change waits for a quiet moment — about a minute and a half after your changes stop — so a burst of saving becomes one version, not dozens. For folders you edit all day, where that quiet moment may never come, tick Also make one version a day and pick a time.

On a schedule offers Every hour, Every few hours (every 2, 3, 4, 6, 8 or 12 hours, counted from midnight so the times stay the same each day), Every day at a time you pick, or Every week on a day and time you pick. Minutes can be :00, :15, :30 or :45. The card shows when the next backup is due, such as "Next backup tomorrow at 02:00".

Missed times and catch-up

• If your Mac is asleep or away at a scheduled time, it backs up once when it's next able — not once for every slot it missed.
• When Storage Studio starts, each set that backs up automatically or on a schedule gets one catch-up backup a few seconds later. That picks up anything that changed while the app was closed and finishes a backup that was interrupted. Sets on Only when I ask are left alone.
• A catch-up is cheap when nothing changed, because only new and changed data is stored.

%% caption: How an automatic or scheduled backup decides whether to start
flowchart TD
  A[A change settles, a scheduled time arrives, or the app starts] --> B{Is Back up automatically on?}
  B -->|No| N[No backup]
  B -->|Yes| C{Are the set's conditions met?}
  C -->|No| H[The card says what it's waiting for]
  H --> C
  C -->|Yes| D{Is the Mac very busy right now?}
  D -->|Yes| H
  D -->|No| E[The backup starts at low priority]

Conditions

Under Only when you can hold automatic and scheduled backups until the moment suits you:

• The Mac is plugged in — waits for mains power. A Mac without a battery always counts as plugged in.
• Not on a personal hotspot — for cloud destinations only, so a backup never uses up a phone's data allowance. It goes by what macOS reports as an expensive or low-data connection.
• Stay out of my working hours — pick a start and end hour (09:00 to 18:00 to begin with). A period can run past midnight, such as 22:00 to 07:00.

When a condition is holding a backup, the card says so in orange, for example "Waiting for power — you asked for backups to run only when plugged in." The backup starts by itself once the condition clears. Conditions never apply to Back up now, and they're cleared if you choose Only when I ask.

Storage Studio also holds automatic backups while your Mac is under heavy load — "Waiting until your Mac is less busy." See Backup speed, battery and the network and Performance modes.

See also: Data Backup · What backup messages mean · A backup didn't run · Battery and power