Back Up On Mac

[blue1948]

I want to back up my mac onto an external HD but when I use time machine there are lots of apps that don't get backed up .So I want to know is it possible to back up the whole kit and caboodle any other way .

[woofgang]

blue Time Machine (and back ups in general) are not designed to save stuff that can be reloaded from other sources because it wastes space and time. It only saves your saved files, the stuff that might not exist anywhere else....additionally some apps and programs don't want you to make copies of them that can be loaded elsewhere. If there is something you really need to make a copy of then you might try copy pasting it onto an ehd but I am not sure you could re install it from the copy. are there particular apps you want to back up?

[Buenchico]

As Woofgang says, 'back up' utilities (whether on a PC or Mac) are designed to back up documents, images, videos, spreadsheets, etc, rather than the software which produces them. (If you could easily 'back up' programs, software piracy would be rife).

However if forget about 'backing up' your hard drive and, instead, think about 'cloning' it, you'll achieve what you seem to be aiming to do:
https://www.lifewire.com/use-disk-utility-to-clone-macs-drive-4042367