Guide

Offsite backup for macOS

Offsite backup protects against the failures that local disks cannot: theft, fire, water, device loss, and site-wide damage.

Use local and offsite backups together

A fast local backup is useful for everyday restore. An offsite backup is useful when the local copy is gone too. A common split is Time Machine for local Mac recovery and Azivault for encrypted offsite repositories, because Azivault repositories are encrypted before they leave the Mac.

Choose an offsite destination

The most direct Azivault offsite destination is S3-compatible object storage. You can also use another folder destination if it is genuinely outside the Mac's normal location and available when backups run.

Storage is not included with Azivault. Choose a provider whose account recovery, billing, region, and durability model you understand. For one provider-specific example, see using Wasabi for encrypted offsite backup.

If you are comparing backup applications that use storage you control, see the documentation-based Arq and Azivault comparison. Arq supports more destination types; Azivault uses a narrower folder and S3-compatible storage model.

Protect the recovery path

Keep the recovery password outside the Mac being backed up.
Keep storage-provider account recovery current.
Document how to access the repository from another Mac.
Test restore before you need it.

Verify with a small restore

After the first completed run, open Restore in Azivault, reveal the run in Finder, and copy a small file to a temporary folder. If you use S3-compatible storage, also make sure you know how to hydrate or import the repository on a replacement Mac.

FAQs

What is offsite backup?

Offsite backup keeps a recoverable copy away from the Mac and the place where the Mac normally lives, so local damage or theft does not destroy every copy.

Can Azivault be used for offsite backup?

Yes. Azivault can store encrypted repositories on S3-compatible storage or another destination you control outside the Mac's normal location.

Should I still keep a local backup?

Yes. Time Machine or another local backup is usually faster to restore from. Offsite backups protect against different failures.