HT201250 How can I find a file on Time Machine.

The file was on my Desktop at one time but has been deleted. Typing it's name in the TM Spotlight field and clicking the Back Button (per the TM tutorial) doesn't work. Has anyone found a specific file on Time Machins that is no longer on the Mac?

First of all, I don't work for Apple and neither do most people who post here. This is primarily a user community.
The documentation is correct, even if you didn't have any success. I prefer to use mende1's suggestion, so I don't use Spotlight in Time Machine.
I understand you are frustrated, as I would be if it didn't work. Computer frustration isn’t one of my favorite pastimes.
Send Apple feedback. They won't answer, but at least will know there is a problem. If enough people send feedback, it may get the problem solved sooner.
Feedback

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How can i find missing backup on Time Machine (for Mac)?, How can i find missing backup on Time Machine (for Mac)?

I backed up my computer on August 8th 2010 with Time Machine. I'm absolutely certain I did. But some reason there's a gap. I have a backup of my computer from just before that date, and just after that date, but August 8th is missing.
Is there any way to recover my files from this date? What's happening? It can't have started automatically deleting files because I have backups from as far back as June 2010 (when I started using time machine).
Thank you

See:
A whole lot about Time Machine for help with TM problems. Also you can select Mac Help from the Finder's Help menu and search for "time machine" to locate articles on how to use TM. See also Mac 101- Time Machine.

How do I find a file in Time Machine?

I get time machine. It just works. But my questions is, how do I locate a file that I know was backed up but I have no idea when the last time it was actually present on my system? Is there a way to just search like in Spotlight but have it show files that have been backed up?

Open a Finder Window.
In the Finder Window, search for the file you want, select "file name" or "content", make sure "This Mac" is selected.
Click the Time Machine icon, in the dock, it will open on "Today".
Click on the back arrow to go back in time.
If the file was backed up, TM will go back and find it.

How can i find the file to which Session Manager has saved my session ?

How can I find the file to which Session Manager has saved my session ?
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Every time Firefox opened
== User Agent ==
Opera/9.80 (Windows NT 6.0; U; en) Presto/2.5.24 Version/10.53

From
http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT4946
Where your backups are stored
The folder where your backup data is stored depends on your computer's operating system. Make sure the backup folder is included in your data-backup routine. iTunes places the backup files in these places:
    Mac: ~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/
    The "~" represents your Home folder. If you don't see Library in your Home folder, hold Option and click the Go menu.
    Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8: \Users\(username)\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup\
    To quickly access the AppData folder, click Start. In the search bar, type %appdata%, then press Return.
    Windows XP: \Documents and Settings\(username)\Application Data\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup\
    To quickly access the Application Data folder, click Start, then choose Run. In the search bar, type %appdata%, then click OK.
See here for how to backup
Back up and restore your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch using iCloud or iTunes - Apple Support

How can I see my files on Time Capsul

How can I see my files on Time Capsul

Do you mean Time Machine files or ordinary files.. ??
Did you copy files to the TC? It should just open in the finder as long as the TC is available and the airport utility shows it connected.
If you want to see the contents of the TM files.. open the sparsebundle and use main Time Machine icon in the dock.
Read more.. pondini will help you.
http://pondini.org/TM/FAQ.html
Try Q15

Why can't I find these files in Time Machine?

I've been trying for quite some time to copy my old time machine backups to a new drive.
Yet my folders seem to get scattered after copying.
Attached are screenshots of the error messages I get while copying my time machine backups. I have a strong suspision that my problem mainly has to do with the files that can't be copied "ds. Store" and "team fortress"
I don't care for these files, and I'd gladly delete them from my time machine backups. Yet I can't find them in my time machine backups.
How do I fond them?
And has anyone else had this same issue as me?

Here are the photos.
I wasn't able to upload them using my phone.

HT201250 Can I restore photo files from Time Machine without the use of an external drive? I'm trying to restore lost photo files and I see them listed in Time Machine (without use of an external drive), but when I try to restore I get a error code 36.

Can I restore photo files from Time Machine without the use of an external drive? While I was transferring photos back and forth from a thumb drive something went haywire and my IPhoto was wiped clean! When I click on Time Machine I see all the dated pages (without an external storage drive connected), go back to a date where all my photo files are there, click "restore", and I get the message: "The Finder can't complete the operation because some data in file cant be read or written (error code - 36)"

Thanks so much Terence. I tried some of the fixes from that page, but then discovered the suggestion to compress the Time Machine Back up of the original library and transfer it as a zip back to my computer as detailed here:
http://pondini.org/TM/E9.html
That worked like a charm. I really appreciate it.

How can i find out the last time a back up to icloud was done

How can i find out the last time a back up was done to icloud?

Go to Settings>iCloud>Storage & Backup. It will be shown just below the Back Up Now button at the bottom.

How can I change the file download time using Adobe Send? Adobe SendNow had a lot more options.

How can I change the file download time using Adobe Send? Adobe SendNow had a lot more options.I don't see nay with Adobe Send.

There isn't a feature in Adobe Send for setting and end-date for a file's availability. At any time, you can Unshare the file, however.

How can I do to use (useful) Time Machine Buddy OUT of Dashboard ?

Hello dear friends,
How can I do to use (useful) Time Machine Buddy OUT of Dashboard ?
I know there must be a way to use it as an application.
I've noticed TinkerTool can do it, but how do you proceed ?
Does anybody have the solution ?
Thank you for responding
With my kind regards
Olivier Herrbach

Dear Dave Sawyer,
You're perfectly right, I posted the same question in two different topics.
I apologize for that, but I was thinking
that more people would respond if I used :
1) The "Time Machine" topic (it can also interest people to know there's a widget for T.M.) ;
— and there are other softwares that Pondini describes, like Backup Loupe) —
2) The "Using Snow Leopard" topic, because I was talking about ALL other widgets too.
In fact, I didn't know which one I had to choose for my question (?),
in the way that both topics were concerned.
I'll try in the future NOT to publish the SAME question in more than ONE place.
Thank you very much for your remark
With my kind regards
Olivier Herrbach

I have bought a time capsule to use as time machine device. Until now I have used a external hard disk. How can I transfer the the old time machine datas to the time capsule?

I have bought a time capsule to use as time machine device. Until now I have used a external hard disk. How can I transfer the the old time machine datas to the time capsule?

This is really difficult to the point of not really worth it.
Keep the old TM backups in archive.. and start afresh on the TC.
Time Machine has a different way of backing up on Network drives cf Local drives.
Pondini does have a method to do it... but I would not recommend it.
http://pondini.org/TM/18.html

How can I retrieve data on a time machine if I have forgotten the password?

How can I retrieve data on a time machine if I have forgotten the password?

There are so many passwords.. which one do you mean?
TC password or disk password in the TC.. no problem.. soft reset.
Or recover the password.. via the Tesserax method.
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3372
If you encrypted the backup in TM and have forgotten that password you are doomed.. there is no way to recover it I know of.. there is a warning.. very clear.. do not forget the password.
http://pondini.org/TM/31.html
Pink box at the bottom.

How can i find the file size before downloading

I am trying to decide if I want to download a tv show [Doctor Who] in standard definition or high definition. How can I see the file size before I purchase the show from iTunes?

1. That's only getting the file size of the Preview.
2. Click on a photo to select it. Then click on the info button. You can get the dimensions and the file size in the top of the pane
Note that the final size of any image will depend on the export settings you choose.

How do you retrieve individual files from Time Machine?

If a file original is lost or becomes corrupted, is there anyway to retrieve that individual files from Time Machine? If so, how?

ElRay (Amazingly, not the 1st) wrote:
SharonZ wrote:
Time Machine finds that file, and not other files that meet the criteria. BUT...
That's not what TM was doing. My search criteria was "by filename", however when I try to go backwards in TM, that limit is lost and it appears to be returning every file in the rolled-up weekly archive. This is especially odd, because I have since determined that the file was actually corrupted before TM was running, so there should be only one version of the file in TM's archives.
No, it was a file sitting on my disk. Email was mentioned, because the fact that every email in every junk folder appears as a separate item to be restored, which is what triggers that little "too many files to show you at one time" issue.
So your name search returned lots of junk mail items. I shudder to think what the file name was that you were searching for! <g>
Also: you can tell Time Machine to ignore your junk mail if you've filtered the junk mail in Mail into a different folder/box.
I figured that one out. I had used Spotlight to find the junk mailboxes, but couldn't, only the messages "labeled" junk. I had to use 'find' in Terminal.app to actually find Mail's junk & spam folders.
Yeah, it's hard to find stuff when you don't know where it is <g>. In general, though, for these kinds of things, always think: "Library" which is where SO many pieces of programs are stored. Of course, there's lots of Library folders, so your first job is to decide: system or user level? Realizing more than one user account could have email setups, you can assume the path you need starts at the User level. So, you start at Home[UserName]/Library. Scanning that Library folder, you see a Mail folder (aha!). Checking out that folder, you might first suspect the Mailboxes subfolder, but you'll soon see that it has the mailboxes you've defined for sorting your mail; so, you continue to scan the Mail folder and you see a folder with your email address on it (or multiple folders, one for each of your emails). Open one of those and, ta da! You see something labeled junk.mbox.
You've already found your Junk mail, of course, but I'm suggesting this as a general approach, especially for other readers of this thread, who might not want to touch Terminal.
But, back to one of your initial problems: TM seemed to lose your search criteria. Do you think it was related to the high number of " hits"? Does it work for you otherwise, when you search for something less general?

How to remove old backup files from time machine? Lion OSx

Hi everyone,
I am just wondering how to efficiently and safely remove the old backup files from time machine? I tried once with command, but it damaged my extra-disk... Does Lion OSx have fixed that?
Many thanks
Hong

Blue-
Time Machine will automatically delete back-ups as the need for space arises. If you want to delete a certain file (application, document, whatever) and have it gone for good you can do that as well.
The best place on the web for information about Time Machine is...
http://pondini.org/TM/Home.html
...it covers everything!
Clinton

HT201250 How can I find a file on Time Machine.

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