How to Fix a Mac Stuck on "Searching for Time Machine Backups"

David Darlington

Mar 16, 2026 • Filed to: Solve Mac Problems • Proven solutions

Trying to restore your Mac, only to get stuck on the "searching for Time Machine backups" screen? Seeing that loading bar go nowhere is stressful, especially when you urgently need your files after an OS update or drive failure. This guide explains how long searching for Time Machine backups should take and provides clear, actionable steps to fix the problem when it gets stuck, helping you successfully restore your Mac.

Current Status	Probable Cause	Recommended Action
Searching > 30 mins	Minor connection glitch	Unplug and reconnect the drive.
Network Disk not found	IP Conflict / Wi-Fi issue	Ensure both Mac and Drive are on the same 5GHz band.
Internal Drive replaced	Incorrect Partition Map	Change Scheme to GUID Partition Map.
Backup Corrupted	File system errors	Use Wondershare Recoverit to extract files directly.

How Long Does Searching for Time Machine Backups Take?

When it shows "searching for Time Machine backup", the Mac is trying to recognize and communicate with the backup. There are mainly 2 factors that decide how long it takes to search for Time Machine backups.

• The speed of the backup disk: It takes a shorter time to detect a Time Machine backup disk if the backup disk can read and write data fast.
• The connection between the backup disk and Mac: It is quicker for Mac to find the Time Machine disk when the backup disk is communicating with your Mac on a USB 3.0 connection.

It's normal to take several hours to finish a restore from Time Machine, however, if Time Machine shows "searching for Time Machine backups" for more than 30 minutes or even an hour, obviously your Mac is getting stuck in the process and it will take forever to finish unless you apply some measures to tackle it.

1. Reconnect the Backup Drive to Mac

A good connection between the Time Machine backup disk and your Mac is the key to fix macOS recovery stuck at searching for Time Machine backup disk. Disconnecting and reconnecting the backup drive may be helpful.

If the backup disk is a physical hard drive, make sure it is powered on with enough charge. Then remove the backup disk to your Mac, after a while, reconnect the disk to the Mac and start the recovery process all over again. Also, you can try a different USB port and cable.

If it is a network drive, make sure it is connected to a stable network connection.

2. Restart Your Mac

Go to Apple menu > Restart to reboot your Mac. Then turn on the Mac and press command and R. Release the keys when the screen appears.

To continue, enter your Mac's password.

After the completion of the device startup, the macOS utility window will appear. Select Restore from Time Machine Backup to continue.

3. Check Network Connection If the Disk Connected to AirPort Base Station

If your backup disk is connected to the AirPort base station, go to the Wi-Fi status menu. Check if both the disk and the Mac are connected to the same network. If not, the Mac will be unable to search for the backups.

Also, you can restart your base station to troubleshoot the problem. To restart, unplug the base station from its power source for 5 seconds, then plug it back in.

4. Run First Aid Feature in Disk Utility

If searching for Time Machine backups still takes forever, you may run First Aid to repair the backup disk to fix the problem.

Step 1Select Disk from the sidebar and click on the First Aid button.

Step 2Click on Run to continue.

Step 3If the Disk Utility reports things to be fine, it means that the device has been repaired successfully.

Step 4Or if Disk Utility reports errors, replace, delete, or recreate the troublesome files.

5. Partition the New Drive

If the Mac takes forever to search for Time Machine backups after you install a new drive, partition the new drive.

Step 1Go to the Utilities Folder and open Disk Utility.

Step 2After Disk Utility has been loaded, select the recently installed drive shown on the left side of the screen.

Step 3In the main window, click on the Partition tab. Set the partition number from the drop-down menu under the Volume Scheme.

Step 4Click on the Options button, change the partition scheme to GUID, and save changes.

Step 5Change the format type to MacOS extended, apply, and wait until the process completes.

Step 6Select the volume that has just been created and click on the Erase tab.

Step 7Change the format type to Mac OS Extended. Select the Security button, click on Zero data, and OK.

Step 8By clicking on the erase button, the process will begin and it might take several hours to complete depending on the size of the drive.

6. Recover Files without Time Machine

If your Mac is unable to restore from a Time Machine backup, this is not the end of the day.

Recoverit Data Recovery can be used to recover files from Mac after macOS reinstallation, upgrade or even factory reset without Time Machine. The program runs in three simple steps and takes a few minutes to be done.

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Step 1Launch the Recovery software after downloading and installing it on the Mac.

Step 2Select the location of the files that you want to recover.

Step 3Start the scan of the selected partition to look at the files deleted. It also allows you to check files during the scan.

Step 4During the scan, preview the files to find those that need to be recovered. You can click on the Recover option to recover the files you need.

It is important to note that do not save the file on the same location again to protect the data overwriting on your Mac.

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