Questions
What does Free include?
One backup location with no time limit, the whole backup and the whole restore: unlimited files, encryption, the read-back check, ransomware warning and undo, widgets, your watch and voice actions. Pro adds the whole computer, more devices, Sync, recovering deleted files, older versions, Continuous Backup, App Lock and AI apps.
Where can the backup go?
Any folder your Mac can write to. An external drive or USB stick, a NAS or network share, or a folder inside iCloud Drive, Dropbox, Proton Drive or Google Drive, using space you already pay for. Pro can write to several at once, and each one is checked separately.
We have no servers holding your data, because we have no storage product at all.
What happens if I forget the passphrase?
The recovery key opens the backup. It is written when the backup is created, and it exists for exactly this. Keep it somewhere that is not the Mac being backed up.
If both are gone, the backup cannot be opened, by you or by us. Nothing is escrowed and nothing is transmitted, which is the reason nobody else can read your backup and the same reason nobody can rescue you. That is a deliberate trade and the app says so plainly when it creates one.
Can it restore my whole Mac?
Not the startup disk, and no backup tool can. Apple seals the system volume, so macOS itself always comes back from Apple.
What Copy Shelter restores is everything that was yours: your files, put back on top of a fresh macOS. The app walks you through that before you ever need it.
What happens if my license lapses?
Nothing is deleted. Backups you already have stay exactly where they are, no old version is ever removed because you stopped paying, and your newest backup still restores.
Browsing older versions goes back to being a Pro feature, and it unlocks again for anybody the moment the newest backup cannot deliver. Getting your files back is never behind a payment.
What if you go out of business?
Your backups still open. The repository format is documented, and csctl, the free command line tool, reads a backup with nothing but the drive and your passphrase, or the recovery key. It is a single file, it needs no installation, and it works whether or not you have ever paid us anything.
Signing in does check with us, once a day. It can never take anything away by failing: only a definite answer from us changes what you have, so no network, a timeout or a server that has stopped existing all leave you exactly as you were. And backing up, verifying and restoring are not gated on any tier at all, so none of this is ever between you and your files.
How is it different from Time Machine?
Time Machine wants a disk it can format, or a supported network share, and it tells you very little about whether the backup is readable. Copy Shelter writes to any folder, including a cloud folder you already pay for, and reads the backup back on a schedule.
Time Machine is better at some of this, and running both is a reasonable thing to do. The full comparison, including the rows where Time Machine wins, is on the comparison page.
Does it need any permissions?
It asks macOS for access to the folders you choose to protect, the same prompt any app gets when it reads your Documents or Desktop. Nothing else. It has no analytics and no tracking. On its own it makes two requests: the update check, and a daily check that your purchase is still current. The privacy policy lists both.
How do I sign in?
Open Copy Shelter and choose Sign In. Use an email code, Apple, Google or Microsoft, or scan a QR code from a device where you are already signed in. Anyone can sign in on Free; Pro comes from a purchase.
There is no license key. Email codes expire after 15 minutes and can only be used once.
Can I get a refund?
Write to [email protected] within 30 days and we will refund you, with no explanation needed. Full detail in the terms.
Is there a Mac backup app without a subscription?
Yes. Copy Shelter Free backs up to one location with no time limit, and the whole restore is free. Pro is also sold once for $79.99, so nothing has to renew.
Is the backup encrypted?
Always. Copy Shelter encrypts your files on your Mac with a key only you hold before it writes anything, so a lost drive or a borrowed server shows nothing readable.
How is it different from Carbon Copy Cloner?
Carbon Copy Cloner makes plain copies you can open in Finder, on a disk. Copy Shelter encrypts every copy, checks it, and can keep it on a drive, a NAS, a cloud folder, a bucket or another Mac. The full comparison.
How is it different from Backblaze?
Backblaze keeps one copy of your Mac in its own cloud for a yearly price. Copy Shelter keeps encrypted, checked copies wherever you choose, which can include Backblaze B2. The full comparison.
Which macOS versions?
Built for macOS 14 and later, Apple silicon. It is signed and notarized by Apple, so it opens without a warning.
