Folder Snapshot Utility For Mac

Backup utilities are the go-to tool if you want to make sure that your data is always safe and you will never lose your files.

macOS comes with Time Machine, a built-in backup solution designed to work with a Time Capsule storage device, or an internal/external hard drive.

Folder Snapshot Utility is an alternative backup utility which works like a version control solution, allowing you to save as many versions of the same folder as you need.

Subsequently, you can restore any of them using Folder Snapshot Utility's Snapshots browser windows which you can launch from the app's Snapshots browser.

You can make new folder snapshots by dragging and dropping it on Folder Snapshot Utility's dock icon, by using the "Take Snapshot" contextual menu or via the status bar "Take Snapshot" menu.

Folder Snapshot Utility generates snapshots quite fast even for large folders, with subsequent backups being performed almost instantly because it uses rsync's incremental backup feature.

Even though Folder Snapshot Utility is a well-thought out tool, it still has some issues. For starters, while it runs on your Mac, you will not be able to use macOS' Exposé feature, a fact that might prove to be a serious hindrance for users who employ it heavily throughout their workflow.

Secondly, the shortcut to the item’s original location Folder Snapshot Utility creates points one level below in the folder structure. For example, if you've created a snapshot for the "Photos" folder on your desktop, the shortcut points within that folder and allows you to copy files to that folder.

This means that when you drag and drop the backed up folder on the shortcut, you will not overwrite its contents as you would expect when going through a restoration process.

Thirdly, Folder Snapshot Utility stores your backups within Library > Application Support, in your home folder by default and it does not allow you to choose a custom backup location. This might prove disastrous if your boot drive suffers a failure and all your snapshots would be lost.

On the whole, Folder Snapshot Utility proved to be a capable and easy to use backup tool that helps create any number of snapshots for a folder of your choice at lightning fast speeds.

Despite that, it still needs some extra features such as support for custom backup location and improved restoration process. Moreover, adding global hotkey support would also considerably speed up the backup workflow as you will no longer need to use the mouse.