
If the backup disk is a physical hard drive, make sure it is powered on with enough charge. Disconnecting and reconnecting the backup drive may be helpful. Reconnect the Backup Drive to MacĪ good connection between the Time Machine backup disk and your Mac is the key to fix macOS recovery stuck at searching for Time Machine backup disk. It's normal to take several hours to finish a restore from Time Machine, however, if Time Machine shows "searching for Time Machine backups" for more than 30 minutes or even an hour, obviously your Mac is getting stuck in the process and it will take forever to finish unless you apply some measures to tackle it.

The speed of the backup disk: It takes a shorter time to detect a Time Machine backup disk if the backup disk can read and write data fast.There are mainly 2 factors that decide how long it takes to search for Time Machine backups. When it shows "searching for Time Machine backup", the Mac is trying to recognize and communicate with the backup.

How Long Does Searching for Time Machine Backups Take? FAQs about Restoring from Time Machine Backups.How Long Does Searching for Time Machine Backups Take?.
