Plug in a hard drive, set Time Machine to go, and everything else is done for you. Unlike other built-in backup offerings, Time Machine is actually extremely useful. MacOS, like all major operating systems, comes with a built-in backup utility. You can start creating your own backup strategy with these five free backup applications for macOS.

You need to protect your files with a reliable backup system that reproduces your data both locally and remotely. Hard drives are unreliable, mobile devices get lost, children destroy laptops: it’s a rough world out there for your data. Data loss is a constant threat to our technology-heavy lives.