Time Machine always skip backup problem after upgrading to macOS 14 Sonoma

If you’ve recently upgraded to macOS 14 Sonoma and encountered problems with your Time Machine backups, you’re not alone. The latest OS release from Apple brings exciting features, but it also brings its fair share of bugs and glitches. One of these issues seems to affect the built-in Time Machine backup.

Many users have reported that after installing Sonoma, their Time Machine backup consistently shows a “skipping backup” message, causing frustration and concern. If you’re among those facing this problem, don’t worry; we’ve got a handy workaround to help you get your Time Machine backups back on track. In this guide, we’ll walk you through the steps to resolve this issue effectively. So, without further delay, let’s dive in.

Fixing Time Machine Backup Issues in macOS 14 Sonoma

Solution 1: Resolving the Issue with ‘OSMessageTracer’ and ‘UpdaterStartupUtility’

To address the problem, we recommend taking the following steps to remove ‘OSMessageTracer’ and ‘UpdaterStartupUtility’ from macOS background processes and then disable and re-enable iCloud Drive:

Step 1: Click on the Apple icon in the top left corner of your screen and select “System Preferences.”

Step 2: In the System Preferences window, click on the “General” option.

Step 3: Under the General settings, you’ll find a tab labeled “Login Items.” Click on it.

Step 4: In the Login Items list, locate ‘OSMessageTracer’ and ‘UpdaterStartupUtility.’ Select each of them and click the “Remove” or “Minus” button to remove them from the list.

Step 5: Return to the main System Preferences window by clicking on your profile picture in the top left corner. Now, select “iCloud.”

Step 6: Within the iCloud settings, click on “iCloud Drive.”

Step 7: Locate the toggle switch next to “iCloud Drive.” Turn it off, wait for a few seconds, and then turn it back on.

Step 8: After re-enabling iCloud Drive, observe whether the issue persists. This should help resolve the problem of ‘OSMessageTracer’ and ‘UpdaterStartupUtility’ causing issues in the background processes.

By following these steps, you can effectively address the issue and potentially eliminate the inconvenience caused by ‘OSMessageTracer’ and ‘UpdaterStartupUtility’ in macOS.

Solution 2: Resolving Time Machine Backup Issues by Excluding com.apple.findmy.FindMy* Paths

If you’re facing Time Machine backup problems related to the com.apple.findmy.FindMy* component, you can potentially solve the issue by adding these associated paths to the Time Machine exclusion list. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to do it:

Step 1: To get started, go to your Launchpad, select “Others,” and open the Terminal application.

Step 2: In the Terminal window, type the following command and press Enter:

tmutil addexclusion -p ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.findmy*

This command will add the paths associated with com.apple.findmy.FindMy* to the Time Machine exclusion list. These paths include:

/Users/username/Library/Containers/com.apple.findmy
/Users/username/Library/Containers/com.apple.findmy.FindMyWidgetPeople
/Users/username/Library/Containers/com.apple.findmy.FindMyWidgetIntentsPeople
/Users/username/Library/Containers/com.apple.findmy.FindMyNotificationsServiceExtension
/Users/username/Library/Containers/com.apple.findmy.FindMyWidgetItems
/Users/username/Library/Containers/com.apple.findmy.FindMyWidgetIntentsItems

Step 3: After adding these paths to the exclusion list, attempt to perform a Time Machine backup again. You should now experience no issues during the backup process.

That’s it! These steps should help you resolve the problem of Time Machine backups not functioning correctly in macOS Sonoma. If you have any questions or encounter difficulties while following these instructions, please feel free to leave a comment. We’ll be prompt in providing a solution to assist you.