tmutil

Time Machine utility

Subcommands

NameDescription
versionPrint the current version
enableTurn on automatic backups (required root + full disk access)
disableTurn off automatic backups (required root + full disk access)
startbackupBegin a backup if one is not already running
stopbackupCancel a backup currently in progress
deleteDeletes backups with the specified timestamp from the backup volume mounted at the given mountpoint
deleteinprogressDelete all in-progress backups for a machine directory
restoreRestore the item `source`, which is inside a backup, to the location `destination`. Same semantics as `cp`
comparePerform a backup diff
setdestinationConfigure a local HFS+ or APFS volume, AFP share, or SMB share as a backup destination (requires root + Full Disk Access)
removedestinationRemove the destination with the specified unique identifier from the Time Machine configuration (requires root + Full Disk Access)
destinationinfoPrint information about destinations currently configured for use with Time Machine
addexclusionConfigure an exclusion that tells Time Machine not to backup a file, directory, or volume during future backups
removeexclusionConfigure Time Machine to backup a file, directory, or volume during future backups
isexcludedDetermine if a file, directory, or volume are excluded from Time Machine backups
inheritbackupClaim a machine directory or sparsebundle for use by the current machine
associatediskBind a volume store directory to the specified local disk, thereby reconfiguring the backup history (requires root + Full Disk Access)
latestbackupList this computer's latest completed backup
listbackupsList all of this computer's completed backups
machinedirectoryPrint the path to the current machine directory for this computer
calculatedriftAnalyze the backups in an HFS machine directory and determine the amount of change between each
uniquesizeAnalyze the specified path in an HFS+ backup or path to an APFS backup and determine its unique size
verifychecksumsCompute a checksum of data contained within a backup and verify the results against checksum information computed at the time of backup
localsnapshotCreate new local Time Machine snapshots of all APFS volumes included in the Time Machine backup
listlocalsnapshotsList local Time Machine snapshots of the specified volume
listlocalsnapshotdatesList the creation dates of all local Time Machine snapshots
deletelocalsnapshotsDelete all local Time Machine snapshots on all mounted disks for the specified date or on the given disk
thinlocalsnapshotsThink local Time Machine snapshots for the specified volume