BackupOnShutdown 1.0 runs on a Mac with Apple Silicon and macOS 13 or later. Download the disk image, drag the app to Applications, and allow the permissions macOS asks for before Back up & shut down can shut the Mac down. Windows installation is covered in Install BackupOnShutdown on Windows 10 or 11.
What do you need before installing?
Use a Mac with Apple Silicon running macOS 13 or later. Intel Macs are not supported. Have an external drive or a network folder you can write to for the first backup. You can install and open the app before that drive is connected, but a backup can only be saved somewhere the Mac can actually reach.
BackupOnShutdown backs up the folders you select. It does not make a full copy of the Mac. See file backup vs system image.
If you want the backup protected with a password, decide now where a second copy of that password will live. A copy that exists only on the Mac you are protecting won't help if that Mac fails.
How do you install the disk image?
- Open the official BackupOnShutdown download page and choose Download for macOS.
- Open the disk image.
- Drag BackupOnShutdown onto the Applications folder.
- Open BackupOnShutdown from Applications. You can eject the disk image after that.
Take the disk image from that page rather than a filename copied from an older guide. The disk image and the app are signed with an Apple Developer ID and notarized by Apple. Opening BackupOnShutdown from Applications does not show a Gatekeeper warning.
If you open the app from the disk image or from Downloads, it asks Move BackupOnShutdown to Applications? Choose Move to Applications. Not now leaves it where it is. Don't ask again stops the question. The dialog says: "Run it from Applications so the desktop shortcut, updates and folder access keep working." If another copy is already running from Applications, it says: "Another copy of BackupOnShutdown is running from Applications. Quit it, then open this copy again to move it."
What will you see on the first launch?
The first time you open BackupOnShutdown, it shows Licence agreement. Accept continues. Decline quits the app. If the app language is not English, it also shows: "The licence terms are available in English only. Only the English version is binding."
Next comes Backup basics. Select I have read this and agree, then choose Continue. Continue stays unavailable until that box is selected. Decline quits the app.
You then see an empty dashboard headed "Set up your first backup". Choose "Set up your first backup" to pick folders, a backup location, and whether to use a password, then review the name.
Installing the app, or saving a setup, doesn't back anything up. "Finish, back up later" stores the setup without starting a backup. "Back up now" starts the first backup and leaves the Mac on so you can read the result.
Set up your first backup walks through the four screens, the summary, and how you change folders or locations later. Run one backup on its own and check that it succeeded before you trust it at the end of the day.
What permission does shutting down need?
Choose Back up & shut down and confirm Back up & shut down. The dialog says: "Your Mac will shut down when the backup finishes. Save your work in other programs first." Cancel stops here. The optional Desktop shortcut in Settings, on the Preferences tab, is off by default. It starts Back up & shut down without that confirmation.
macOS then asks whether BackupOnShutdown may control System Events. That prompt appears before the backup starts. Allow it if the Mac should shut down after a successful backup. The backup can still run if you refuse. Closing the prompt without allowing access, or a prompt that does not finish, is treated as not confirmed.
If you refuse, or if BackupOnShutdown cannot confirm the permission, it shows Shutting down needs your permission. Back up without shutting down runs the backup and leaves the Mac on. Cancel stops before the backup starts.
When the permission was refused, the message is: "To shut down your Mac after a backup, allow BackupOnShutdown to control System Events in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Automation. Then start Back up & shut down again."
When the permission could not be confirmed, the message is: "BackupOnShutdown could not confirm that it may shut down your Mac. Allow it if macOS asks, or check System Settings → Privacy & Security → Automation."
The Windows shutdown steps, and how to cancel, are in Back up, then shut down.
What if macOS blocks some files?
macOS may ask before BackupOnShutdown reads Desktop, Documents, or Downloads, or uses an external or network drive you chose. Allow that access if that place should be included. The prompt text is English:
- Desktop: "BackupOnShutdown backs up the Desktop folders you choose."
- Documents: "BackupOnShutdown backs up the Documents folders you choose."
- Downloads: "BackupOnShutdown backs up the Downloads folders you choose."
- External drive: "BackupOnShutdown reads and writes backups on external drives you choose."
- Network drive: "BackupOnShutdown reads and writes backups on network drives you choose."
If the summary lists files macOS blocked, it adds: "If macOS blocked some files, allow BackupOnShutdown in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Files and Folders. Photos and other protected app data need Full Disk Access there."
When does the 14-day trial start?
The trial lasts 14 days and starts the first time you open BackupOnShutdown. No account or card is required. Licenses are sold to customers in the EEA, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland, in EUR, GBP, or CHF. The free trial works everywhere. Use it to make a backup, read the summary, and restore one file into a separate folder. Trial status is shown in Settings, and you can run that first backup without a license key. A backup password and a license key are different things, and buying a license doesn't open a password-protected backup. Activation, and what happens when the trial ends, are covered in Trial and license.
How do you update?
BackupOnShutdown does not update itself. In Settings, on the About tab, under Updates, Check for Updates opens the download page. Download the new disk image and drag BackupOnShutdown to Applications again.
How do you use it at the end of the day?
Back up leaves the Mac on. Back up & shut down shuts it down after a successful backup, so save your work in other programs and connect the backup drive before you start.
Shutting down from the Apple menu, closing the lid, or sleeping doesn't start a backup. You start it from BackupOnShutdown.
Download BackupOnShutdown and use the 14-day trial. No account or card is required.