What type of files does Time Machine primarily back up?

Time Machine primarily backs up files that have changed since the last backup. This incremental backup system is designed to optimize storage usage and reduce the time it takes to perform backups. By only saving changes made since the last backup, Time Machine efficiently manages the backup process, allowing for faster and more resource-friendly operations.

This approach ensures that users can easily restore their system to a previous state without needing to backup all files every time. Instead of duplicating everything on the hard drive, which would be highly inefficient, Time Machine tracks the changes and backs those up, allowing it to maintain a history of the file versions over time.

In contrast, backing up all files on the Mac would consume excessive storage space and time, while focusing exclusively on only system applications or multimedia files would not provide a complete snapshot of a user's data and could leave out crucial files impacted by user activity or software updates. Thus, the method of backing up only the files that have changed since the last backup provides a balanced and effective solution for data protection.