How to Restore Individual Files from TM Backup After Clean Install

Question

I made a TM backup. Then I did a clean install of Mavericks. And I wanted to bring back individual files and folders from that TM backup, but going to the external drive containing the TM backup with Finder, all folders showed a small red stop sign, which I learned is an issue with permissions.

Accepted Answer

Don't worry. It's possible for you to restore individual files from TM backup after clean install. The easiest way to restore from Time Machine backup is by following the steps below:Step 1. Go to your external drive containing the Time Machine backup with Finder, and you can view all the folders with the small red stop sign.Step 2. Fix the 'red stop sign' issue by opening 'Terminal' and entering: sudo diskutil disableOwnership /Volumes/[Your TM Drive].Step 3. Wait for the command to work, and you can copy the files without worrying about permissions.In addition, if your TM backup is unworkable and you can't restore the deleted files, using the data recovery tool EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac can be a better choice to restore your lost/deleted files quickly.To understand the operation of the EaseUS data recovery software, you can refer to the three steps below:Step 1. Install and launch EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac on the Mavericks Mac, and choose the partition which stores your deleted files before.Step 2. Click 'Scan' to view the lost, deleted, and existing files on this partition, and click 'Preview' to view the selected file's content.Step 3. Choose the files in the scanning list needed to restore, click 'Recover' to get them back, and save them in a new location on your Mac.To avoid data loss, if you clean install macOS from USB or external hard drives, besides making backups in Time Machine, you can upload your essential files on cloud-based drives, including iCloud, OneDrive, Google Drive, etc. These cloud-based drives can select individual files to restore.

How to Restore Individual Files from TM Backup After Clean Install

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