On my Macbook Air running OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion, when I click on the Time Machine backup menubar item, I see the option to browse other backup disks. That’s a pretty cool option, if I need to switch between different disks to backup my Mac; maybe to make a secondary backup for redundancy.
In Mavericks, the Time Machine menu bar icon doesn’t have this option any more, instead only showing Stop This Backup when backing up (or Back Up Now when it isn’t), Enter Time Machine, and Open Time Machine Preferences. If you’re wondering where the option to browse other backup disks has gone, you’re not alone.
Over at Tips and Tricks In Mavericks, Ruben Engel points out that one of his readers noticed something fancy happens when the Option key is pressed.
If you’re running OS X Mavericks, click on the Time Machine menu bar icon at the top of your Mac’s screen, and then press the Option key. You’ll see the aforementioned Browse Other Backup Disks option as well as a new one.
You’ll notice a new option, Verify Backups, which on my Mavericks-enabled Mac Mini is greyed out. I’m assuming this option will let you verify a backup on any Time Machine disk connected to the Mac. If any of you have this option enabled, tell us what it does in the comments below.
Interesting little addition to the Time Machine menu bar icon, nonetheless, right?