Is Time Machine Stuck in the Preparation Process?
Typically, unless you’ve made significant changes or added several new files to your drive, the “preparing backup” process is speedy. It’s so quick that most Time Machine users never notice it, except for the first Time Machine backup, where the preparation phase takes a long time. If the preparation process is taking a while, here’s how to tell if it’s stuck:
Cancel the Current Backup Attempt
If the Time Machine backup-preparation process is stuck, you’ll need to cancel the current backup attempt before moving on to troubleshooting solutions.
How to Fix Time Machine When It’s Stuck
After you’ve canceled the failed backup attempt, try some troubleshooting steps to see if you can get Time Machine to back up your system properly. Two common issues include large files holding up the process and Spotlight Search indexing the backup volume.
Bypass Large Files
Large photo or video files may be hanging up Time Machine. Try excluding them from the backup and see if this solves the problem.
Prevent Spotlight From Indexing Time Machine Backup Volume
Spotlight can interfere with the Time Machine preparation process if it’s indexing the Time Machine backup volume. Try preventing Spotlight from indexing the Time Machine backup volume by adding it to the Spotlight preference pane Privacy tab. Here’s how:
Additional Troubleshooting Steps to Try
There are a few other fixes to try when Time Machine gets stuck on its preparation process.
What Can Corrupt a Time Machine Backup?
Time Machine’s file system changelog can become corrupt for various reasons, the most likely being unexpected shutdowns or freezes and removing or turning off external volumes without ejecting them properly first. When Time Machine determines that the file system changelog isn’t usable, it performs a deep scan of the file system to build a new changelog. The deep scan process dramatically extends the time it takes to prepare Time Machine to perform a backup. Luckily, once the deep scan is complete and the changelog is corrected, Time Machine should perform subsequent backups in a usual fashion.
How Does Time Machine Work?
Time Machine uses an inventory system that macOS creates as part of the file system and logs any file that has changed. Time Machine compares this file-change log against its inventory and creates incremental backups. These incremental backups usually don’t take much time while ensuring a complete backup of your files.
