This article explains how to back up hard drive data on your Mac when OS X won’t boot. You may be having start up issues with your Mac. If your Mac won’t turn on, recovering your files can be challenging, but it is not impossible.
Your data is valuable, thus backups are important. You should back your files regularly, so you do not lose your files.
You may fix most of startup related issues. Before doing anything, however, you may want to backup your files and documents.
What you can do is to get a system image, which includes copies of your programs, system settings, and files, using OS X’s Disk Utility to perform the backup. This method will backup to an external hard drive.
Please note that there’s no guarantee your data is recoverable. This method may not work for you.
Here is how to back up your Mac:
We are using OS X El Capitan. Earlier OS X versions have slightly different interface.
1-Connect your external hard drive to your Mac (yes you need an external hard disk). Make sure this drive has enough spare disk space to store your backup files.
2-Boot your Mac into Recovery Mode. Follow the steps to do this:
- Shut down your Mac
- Restart your Mac and hold down the Command and R keys immediately after you hear the startup chime. Keep holding them until you see the Apple logo.
- Wait until you see the OS X Utilities windows
- Select Disk Utility and click Continue
- Select the Disk you want to back up, such as Macintosh HD
- Select File > New Image > Image from “Macintosh HD or Your Drive”
- You may change its name, if you want to
- Select your external drive
- Choose “compressed”
- Select Save
- Your backup process will start. It may take some time.
3- You will notified you when the process is done.
If you get a new Mac, and want to restore your back up, you may use Migration Assistant transfer the data back to your Mac.
Making backups of your files is important. Before losing anything, back up now. You may want to use the OS X Time Machine feature to easily create back up files. That is the easiest way to back up your Mac. You may also use iCloud to back up some of your files like musics, photos etc.
Kendra says
April 23, 2016 at 12:43 amQuestion: Once you have an external hard disk, how would you initialize it, if your Mac cannot reboot?
Apryl says
May 21, 2016 at 11:15 pmThe above instructions answers your question. Because your computer will not boot, you start it in Recovery Mode by pressing Command + R.
israr says
March 27, 2017 at 4:29 pmjust use ALT
D says
May 17, 2017 at 8:57 pmIt does not answer Kendra’s question. She’s asking how, once system image is created, do you use that image to restore computer?
Baylink says
November 21, 2017 at 6:42 pmKendra was not, actually, asking that; the answer to her question is indeed “You use Disk Utility by booting with Command+R, or Option.”
The answer to “how do you restore from the saved image” is different, but also documented above, apparently Migration Assistant, in the newly installed OS, knows how to read those images.
Kendra says
November 2, 2018 at 1:17 pmNo, that was not the answer to my question. But thanks, anyways… I figured it out. The actual answer was to “plug it in.”
HL says
March 18, 2019 at 3:00 pmHi Kendra, do you set a password for your external hard drive? Mine needs the password to unlock the drive which I am not sure how.
Angry guy says
April 3, 2019 at 1:31 pmWhy do you feel confident about things you put so little effort into? Seriously.
Dee says
May 25, 2016 at 4:35 pmI am trying to backup my Mac using this process for the past 1 week. Every time I reach the last step “save” , the Mac gets stuck on the screen that says “creating image”. I have kept it for hours assuming that the back up would take a long time but it never gets past that screen. Is this an issue or just it taking a long time ? Should I be more patient ?
zachman says
October 10, 2016 at 7:04 pmI’m with Dee, here. I have tried many things. This solution looks the most promising. Thanks for the article. But “Creating Image…” dialogue box just sits at “Copying…” and no movement on the progress bar. Any suggestions?
Luke Mae says
March 28, 2018 at 12:43 pmI’m stuck on the same ‘Preparing Image’ ‘Reading Whole Disk’ with no movement on the progress bar.
Is this still creating the image in question?
Thanks,
Luke
Anon says
June 23, 2016 at 10:20 pmHow am I supposed to have a flash drive with 105 gb of free space lol
Emanon says
September 24, 2016 at 4:33 amThere was no mention of using a flash drive. Use an external hard drive.
Zequek Estrada says
June 28, 2016 at 12:23 amBacking up my mac doesn’t seem like it’s hard to do. I’ve made the mistake of not backing up the hard drive and ended up losing a lot of file and data for my research class. It seems like now a days that doing something like this is essential.
Lucas Thuo says
August 11, 2016 at 9:52 amVery helpful, thank you so much
Jan Perry says
September 1, 2016 at 10:54 pmI’m having the same issue as Kendra. The Mac won’t boot–in safe mode, with the reset options, with PRAM reset, with cntl-option-cud-power– it still does the same thing. It comes, logo appears, the progress bar appears and gets hung halfway. After a bit, the screen goes to white and then it shuts down. Occasionally it will try to reboot but hangs again. Have Yosemite and keep it updated. Very frustrating to see this question not answered.
Jan Perry says
September 1, 2016 at 10:55 pmThat’s it chimes and logo appears.
Nikolaj says
June 6, 2017 at 3:58 pmHello Jan! I am encountering the Exact same symptoms. Did you locate/solve the problem?
With regards
Dansterooni says
August 22, 2018 at 11:25 amHave encountered this problem – it ended up being a faulty logic board. The HDD itself was fine. Problem was on a 2015 iMac and it cost AUD$900 to replace. booted perfectly, and has remained operational since December 2017.
Sue says
September 19, 2016 at 2:46 amHi, my MacBook said unable to create images. What should i do? I haven’t done any backup recently. And my MacBook just suddenly can’t boot?
MJ says
September 26, 2016 at 5:48 pmSame problem here. Have any luck yet?
Naif says
September 29, 2016 at 4:44 amSame thing here
What should I do?
IG@exec_beatz says
December 16, 2016 at 4:03 amMake sure not to change the name of the back up file. That did it for me.
Sumaia says
November 12, 2016 at 8:36 amif i back it up this way will my pictures back up too ??? i need to know as soon as possible .
Maxwell says
November 24, 2016 at 6:53 pmLooks like a great solution. Is the external harddrive where the image will be saved erased with starting backing up the image? My external harddrive is huge therefore I also have other files on it that I do not want to delete. Thanks for any feedback!
Monty says
December 23, 2016 at 7:49 pmHey did you ever get the answer to your question about erasure of drive if you made an image in a drive that has information on it already?
Nc says
January 15, 2017 at 2:01 amIt erases the drive.
Nicole says
November 29, 2016 at 5:29 pmI have a few problems with my laptop. First it won’t reboot so I have tried to do the utilities screen. I am able to make it to the first steps lists above. As I select the macintosh file and try to press for the new image it won’t allow me to have a backup option. I am able to press open disk image which allows me to see all the files and folders on the laptop.under the first aid tab I have tried to verify the disk and the other one that is listed on the bottom right corner. When I am in the open disk image incan plug in my memory drive that i want to backup the laptop onto but I can’t copy the folder and move them to the memory drive. Is there any other way that i can back up my laptop when I don’t have the option where I don’t need to go to file> new image?
Kate says
December 31, 2016 at 3:52 amHELP! my computer says “you do not have permission to write to the location you have selected” I am trying to copy my hard drive to the external one! i have all my files and desperately need help downloading!!!!
kbetland says
January 21, 2017 at 12:18 amJust wondering if you found a solution? Mine is doing the same. I’m about ready to throw it out the window!! Thanks
Elle says
February 8, 2017 at 2:06 amBe sure to select your external hard drive and not the OS X Base System shown in the picture. It says to select your external drive, but it does not show that happening in the picture, which confused me at first until I started from the beginning and followed the words rather than the pictures. Hope that helps! Mine won’t boot either, so Genius Bar for me tomorrow and fingers crossed that my new TB external hard drive will save the entire image. So far, so good! Otherwise, I have lost a year since my last back up.
kp says
February 12, 2017 at 10:46 amWhat happens if you don’t change the OS X Base System. I think I may have forgot to change it but the image copy did not fully go through, and now my drive won’t mount in recovery mode.
Briana says
July 20, 2017 at 1:18 amIt doesn’t show my external hard drive in the “where” portion of the “File” then “New Image” then “Image from Macintosh HD”. Not sure what to do next?
Ric B says
September 1, 2017 at 6:18 pmWondering Elle, if you were finally able to recover your files?
Tom says
February 24, 2017 at 3:15 amIt’s because it is NTSF formatted. You need an external drive that is specifically Mac Ready so that it is already formatted correctly.
https://www.cnet.com/news/solving-read-only-conditions-for-external-hard-drives/
Claudine says
August 25, 2018 at 11:01 pmThe hard drive is not MAC readable . You need to get a FAT 32 drive . Howeve if you have big files you might need another MAC to re format the External drive to a different format
J says
February 4, 2017 at 4:41 pmI keep getting diskutility error 3…. any help?
Nina says
February 19, 2017 at 2:41 amI’m getting the same error. Help would be much appreciated.
pete says
February 28, 2017 at 5:14 amMe too. Any help??
Shyafira says
April 24, 2017 at 8:21 amHello there. Coming across this as well. Has anyone found a solution? Need help ASAP!
Lisa says
February 14, 2017 at 4:26 pmIt is possible to back up if the startup disk cannot be found?
Mike says
February 23, 2017 at 1:43 pmI have a this situation and making a “Compressed Image” and how can i restore this image after i have reinstalled Mac OSX? Will this Image taking also backup of my pictures?
Nina says
February 27, 2017 at 3:28 amAlso wondering how to open this Dmg file once it’s made? Thanks.
Daniel says
July 27, 2017 at 7:15 amopen it in mac after you recover it. thats how i recovered my files.
cookio says
March 5, 2017 at 9:33 ami read in the above that if there are existing files in the external drive then those files will get erased using this solution, could someone please help reconfirm?
If so, that means I need a blank/new external drive?
Attila Albert says
November 15, 2017 at 5:38 pmYes. The files from the external drive will be erased. Use a blank drive.
elfy says
February 14, 2018 at 7:50 pmDoesn’t it just save the disk image to the external drive? It’s a save dialogue box that pops up when I do it, where I choose a location. That doesn’t suggest an erasing of the drive. Can someone confirm this?
Bats says
May 3, 2017 at 12:10 pmI keep getting error -61
How do I safely back up all my files without erasing my external drive or my Mac?
Argel says
July 16, 2017 at 5:03 amHey, any luck fixing error 61? I keep getting the same error in my mac. Thanks.
Benjamin says
July 26, 2018 at 4:36 amHey Bats,
Did you manage to back up all your files? I tried but keep h=getting the error 61. I’m stuck on that part.
Jeux says
May 9, 2017 at 6:31 pmI am wondering why are we taking the Image from our Macintosh HD as “compressed” rather then “read/write”. In “compressed” case can i reach my files using this external harddisk mounted to another mac?
Many thanks
Mary says
May 21, 2017 at 2:39 pmI have the same question. Plus my 250gb hard drive is only shown as under a gig on the external drive. Is that because it’s compressed?
Daniel says
July 27, 2017 at 7:13 amthis worked for me. thanks!
wasnt able to recover the applications but all my files have been spared from being deleted into oblivion.
Sam says
July 27, 2017 at 1:02 pmIt shows error code 3 while it is reading disk and a message saying the operation can’t be completed. Operation failed with status 2.
Vusani says
October 20, 2017 at 1:55 pmHi
Did you get help on this. I’m experiencing the same issue
Anthony Gordon says
October 9, 2017 at 8:23 amI have a late 2009 re-furbished MacBook Pro that cant gets past the grey screen of death for more than a minute before shutting down. I believe it’s a hard drive crash. But I didn’t get a chance to back up the HD so now I’m wondering if simply replacing the HD will suffice? What to do about the OS?
edd says
October 23, 2017 at 11:30 amI set the backup going and a progress bar appeared and seemed to be working. I left it going and returned to find iMac seemingly asleep, mouse movement woke it, but to a blank dark grey screen. The external drive is showing no activity (no flashing activity light) and neither mac or external drive can be heard spinning up/writing data.
Is it safe to assume the blank screen is it complete?
Michael says
November 5, 2017 at 5:42 pmI tied this procedure but after I hit save I get the message Unable to create “Macintosh HD” (Resource busy)
yagnajee says
November 10, 2017 at 3:45 pmHi,
it was very helpful, but it was safe or not to recovery files and data in mac
mL says
December 30, 2017 at 9:36 amThanks it worked for me. To save my data from Mac, I needed to format my external harddisk (formated in a windows and Mac) to use it on Mac I needed to erase the external disk on Mac. After this It was possible to save my data from HD.
Then I erase my HD Mac. i restarted the Mac, got error 61. Restarted (command +R) disk utility, install Mac Os. installed from Internet the Mac again.
Thanks!
Vicarious_NZ says
February 11, 2018 at 12:28 amWhen trying to create a backup it keeps coming up with “Unable to create “Macintosh HD.” (Input/output error).
I have re formatted the external drive I am trying to back up to so there is nothing on it. Any ideas of what I can do?
Paul says
February 11, 2018 at 8:08 pmIs this the same as making a Time Machine backup? In other words, when the backup is done, will I be able to restore the Mac using what was just backed up on the removable hard drive…just like restoring from a Time Machine backup?
Kevin says
February 28, 2018 at 7:18 pmF***ing genious 😉 thank you !!
Larry Wasson says
March 7, 2018 at 11:23 pmUsed these instructions to back up to an external hard drive. Worked just fine, except it did not backup the user library folder for mail which is the one I needed the most.
Candsdbn says
March 15, 2018 at 9:55 amHi Larry
Can you please show me the process. I am really battling here and petrified to loose all the stuff on the Pro. Thank you!
Ebra says
April 20, 2018 at 10:13 amThank you, it also worked for me.
At the begin, it’s better to erase your external hard drive and change its format to “ExFAT” format. It’s one of those HD formats that the OS gives the permission to transfer big files (like this image file). After created image file(backup), you could erase your internal Mac hard drive or find a solution for the startup/boot issues without worry about losing your data 😉
Melissa says
May 7, 2018 at 6:22 pmThanks for the advice! What should I do if my MacBook won’t turn on at all (not in recovery mode, safe mode, or anything else)? I’ve already tried a power cycle and resetting the SMC and PRAM. Thanks!
Kadri Pereira says
August 20, 2018 at 4:07 amAfter trying all the options and still getting errors (could not back up), I grabbed an empty external hard drive, booted into recovery HD, and then used the disc utility to format the hard drive as Mac Journaled drive. Next: Exit the Disk Utility, and click on Install New macOS. Install the macOS to your external hard drive and boot from it. Now you can see your original HD as a secondary drive and back up all the files you need.
Devendra Yadav says
September 12, 2018 at 12:53 pmHi,
My MacBook isn’t starting and following the above steps, it starts creating Disk Image from “Macintosh HD” but after a while it stop-
Operation failed: File too large.
The told Macintosh size is 227 Gbs needs to back up and I have over 600Gbs left in the external drive using for back-up but its keep on happening again and again.
Appreciate if someone can suggest.
Américo Candia says
October 14, 2018 at 5:35 pmHello. I can start my MacBook to login. But, I cannot use the keyboard. What can I do? Please help me
Wally says
October 26, 2018 at 9:06 pmI’m getting “Operation failed: input/output error”, when attempting to backup. Suggestions appreciated. Thank you
Wally says
October 26, 2018 at 9:08 pmI’m getting “Operation failed: Input/output error”, when attempting to backup to external drive. Suggestions appreciated. Thanks
Sammy says
November 1, 2018 at 5:29 amwhen i tried to do it as it described. i have a message says ” You do not have permission to write to the location you have selected ‘ even i selected an external hard drive with huge space .
thanks
Jason says
November 14, 2018 at 12:46 pmI’m having the same problem.
CINDY JO says
April 4, 2019 at 2:16 pmI had the same issue, but I realized what I did wrong. When I was selecting the file I wanted to copy (Macintosh HD) to the external drive, I renamed the “Macintosh HD” to “iMac backup 2019”. It allowed me to continue to the next step which is to select where I’d like to write the image to, but when I started to write the image, it said I did not have permission. The solution is to leave the name field as-is… DON’T RENAME THE FILE
Jason says
November 14, 2018 at 12:44 pmI’ve followed all of the steps successfully, but when I select my external hard drive and click save, I get an error message that says I don’t have permission to write to that location. Any advice?
H’ng Lih says
March 18, 2019 at 2:57 pmHow do I unlock my WD external hard drive in Mac recovery mode if it’s lock with a password? Thanks!
Julie Papageorge says
April 11, 2019 at 2:21 pmI am having the problem as everyone here. I have followed the visual instructions at the begining of thid thread. Everything works until I have the choice of “Selecting the Disk” I want to back up, such as Macintosh HD. My Macintosh HD choice is greyed out, but I click on “Save As” anyway. I get to the box to choose where to “save to”, choose my seagate external, but then the save option grays out. HELP!!!