The Apple Time Machine Policy allows administrators to configure and enforce Time Machine backup settings on managed macOS devices.
This policy helps organizations standardize backup behavior, ensure data protection, and control where and how backups occur across enterprise Apple devices.

Using this policy, IT administrators can specify backup destinations, enforce automatic backups, restrict local or network backups, skip system files, and control the amount of data stored.

Time Machine is macOS’s built-in backup system, providing automated incremental backups of user and system data.
While useful, unmanaged backups can:

The Apple Time Machine Policy ensures backups follow organizational policies and that data is consistently protected.

Below is a complete explanation of all settings in the Apple Time Machine Policy.

Controls whether macOS prompts the user to set up new disks as backup targets.

Useful for preventing backup to unauthorized external drives.

Specifies a network or server-based Time Machine backup destination.

Use Case:
Standardizes backup locations to approved enterprise servers or NAS devices.

Controls whether Time Machine performs automatic backups at regular intervals.

Controls mobile/local snapshots when a device is not connected to the backup destination.

Controls whether Time Machine skips system files and folders.

This reduces backup storage usage and speeds up backups.

Controls whether Time Machine backs up all volumes or only the startup volume.

Allows administrators to define specific file paths or folders that should be excluded from Time Machine backups.

Multiple paths can be added.

Sets the maximum backup size (in megabytes).

Useful for controlling storage usage on shared or constrained volumes.

Devices will apply the new backup settings on the next MDM sync.