How to Backup Data in Ulysses (Mac) using External Drives

Edited 28 days ago by ExtremeHow Editorial Team

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In today's digital age, keeping your important data safe is a must. A popular writing application for Mac users, Ulysses allows you to create, organize, and store your writing projects. However, like any digital platform, there is always a risk of data loss due to unforeseen events such as hardware failure, accidental deletion, or software corruption. Therefore, it is important to back up your Ulysses data regularly. This comprehensive guide explains how to backup your Ulysses data on Mac using an external drive.

Understanding Ulysses data

Before we dive into the backup process, it's important to understand how Ulysses organizes and stores your data. Ulysses primarily uses iCloud to sync your library across devices. However, it also stores your data locally on your Mac. Ulysses stores its data in packages typically located in Library folder of your home directory. This data includes all your sheets, groups, and writing projects.

Finding Ulysses data on your Mac

To back up your Ulysses data, you need to locate it on your computer. This data is stored in a package called Ulysses-Documents. Follow these steps to locate Ulysses data on your Mac:

1. Open Finder.
2. Press Command + Shift + G which will open Go to Folder window.
3. Type ~/Library/Group Containers/ in the text box and press Enter.
4. Find the folder named group.com.ulyssesapp. Inside this folder, you will find Ulysses-Documents.

Preparing for backup

Before you proceed with the backup, make sure you have an external drive with enough storage space. This external drive will store your Ulysses data backup. Follow these steps to prepare your external drive:

1. Connect the external drive to your Mac using a compatible USB cable.
2. Make sure your external drive is formatted to work with macOS. The recommended format for newer macOS versions is Mac OS Extended (Journaled) or APFS. You can format your external drive using Disk Utility in the Applications > Utilities folder.
3. Label the drive appropriately so you can easily identify it as a backup drive in the future.
4. If possible, dedicate this drive for backup purposes only to avoid accidental overwriting of data.

Steps to backup Ulysses data to an external drive

Once your external drive is ready, you can proceed with the backup process. This process involves copying Ulysses-Documents package from your Mac to the external drive.

Steps to manually backup Ulysses data

1. Open Finder and go to your home directory.
2. To access the Ulysses data directory press Command + Shift + G and type ~/Library/Group Containers/group.com.ulyssesapp.
3. In this directory, find the folder named Ulysses-Documents.
4. Right-click on Ulysses-Documents folder and select Copy "Ulysses-Documents".
5. Go back to your external drive in Finder.
6. To keep track of your backups, create a new folder on the external drive and mark it with the backup date.
7. Open this folder, right-click inside the window, and select Paste Item to copy Ulysses-Documents folder to the external drive.

Automating backups with Time Machine

If you don't want to manually back up data, you can use Apple's built-in Time Machine application to automate the process. Time Machine is a backup software application for macOS. It automatically creates backups of files, including Ulysses data, on external storage devices.

Steps to set up Time Machine for Ulysses data

1. Connect your external drive to your Mac.
2. Open System Preferences from the Apple menu.
3. Select Time Machine.
4. Click Select Backup Disk and choose your external drive as the backup destination.
5. In Time Machine preferences, click Options, then check the “Exclude these items from backup” list. Make sure Ulysses-Documents folder is not listed as an excluded item.
6. If it is deprecated, use the "-" button to remove it from the exclusion list.
7. Close the Options window and make sure the checkbox next to Back Up Automatically is checked. Time Machine will begin backing up the Ulysses data along with other files to your external drive.

Verifying data backup

After completing the backup process, it is important to verify that your data has been successfully copied to the external drive. Open the external drive and locate your backup folder. View the contents of Ulysses-Documents package to make sure all your sheets and projects are present.

Restoring Ulysses data from a backup

In the unfortunate event of data loss or when you need to transfer your data to another device, you may need to restore your Ulysses data from a backup. Here's how you can do it:

1. Connect the external drive to your Mac.
2. Open Finder and navigate to the Ulysses-Documents backup folder on your external drive.
3. Select Ulysses-Documents and right-click to select Copy "Ulysses-Documents".
4. Go to ~/Library/Group Containers/group.com.ulyssesapp directory on your Mac.
5. Paste the copied Ulysses-Documents folder into group.com.ulyssesapp folder. Select the option to replace the folder if prompted.
6. Open Ulysses to make sure all your data is available and organized as before.

Additional tips for effective backups

• Periodically check the integrity of the backup data to ensure it is not corrupted or incomplete.
• For added security, consider maintaining multiple backup copies, possibly using different external drives or cloud services.
• Label your backup folders with dates or project names to help track versions and changes over time.
• Update your backups regularly, especially after significant changes to your writing project.

Conclusion

Backing up your Ulysses data on Mac using an external drive is a smart practice to protect your valuable writing projects. By following manual steps and using automation tools like Time Machine, you can ensure that you have reliable copies of your data. From finding your Ulysses data on your Mac to performing manual or automated backups and finally verifying and restoring data when necessary, this guide provides a complete overview. Take proactive measures in backing up your data to avoid losing significant amounts of work due to unfortunate events.

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