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Check Where Time Machine Backs Up with tmutil destinationinfo

Find out which disk or network share Time Machine is using as its backup destination, straight from the terminal.

macOSbackuptime-machineLow risk
Run tmutil destinationinfo to print the name, type, and mount point of the disk Time Machine is backing up to (or see nothing if no destination is set).

01Command

Command
$ tmutil destinationinfo

02What it does

tmutil destinationinfo reports the currently configured Time Machine destination, including whether it is a Local Volume or a Network destination, plus its ID and mount point. This is the quickest way to confirm backups still have a target after you swap drives, rename a NAS share, or suspect Time Machine quietly lost its destination. If no destination is configured the command simply returns nothing, which tells you the backup has not been running at all.

03Risk

RiskLow risk

04Undo

✓No undo needed — this command does not change persistent state.

05Sources

  • TMUTIL(8) - macOS manual page
    Apple (Xcode man pages mirror) · vendor-doc · 2026-09-17
    Evidence: The manual page contains 'tmutil destinationinfo' and describes it as printing information about the destination(s) configured for Time Machine backups.
  • tmutil - Time Machine maintenance utility
    SS64 · technical · 2026-09-17
    Evidence: Lists 'destinationinfo' among tmutil's verbs for printing information about backup destinations.

Last verified: 2026-09-19 · Category: System & Settings

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