Backup"Time Machine couldn't complete the backup" — but my backup disk has space.
The most common cause is the startup disk: Time Machine needs roughly 10 GB free on your Mac itself to stage each backup, and fails cryptically below that. BackupTempo's pre-flight tells you this directly ("Startup disk is nearly full — X GB free"). Free up space and back up again.
My backup disk is nearly full — is that a problem?
Mostly no: Time Machine automatically deletes its oldest backups to make room, shortening your history. BackupTempo warns you past 90% so the shrinking history is a choice, not a surprise. A startup disk being full is the serious one (see above).
What are "local snapshots," and why do their dates match my backups?
Every time a backup runs, Time Machine first takes a snapshot on your Mac's own startup disk, then copies it to the backup drive — so the dates mirror your schedule. The local copies are a convenience cache (they let you restore recent versions without the drive); your real history lives on the backup drive. Health › Local Snapshots… lists them and shows which ones a completed backup already covers.
Is it safe to delete local snapshots to free space?
Yes — deleting them never touches the backup drive, and macOS clears them on its own after about a day anyway. One caution: a snapshot marked Only on this Mac isn't in your backups yet, so deleting it permanently loses that restore point. BackupTempo's confirmation tells you exactly which case you're in.
How do app updates work? What does the update check send?
Settings › General › Updates — check automatically (about once a day) or on demand with Check for Updates…. The app fetches a version file from backuptempo.app; no usage data or system information is sent. Same no-telemetry rule as everything else.
What happens if I quit BackupTempo?
Scheduled backups stop. With Apple's automation off, nothing backs up until you reopen the app (it catches up on missed backups automatically) or turn Apple's schedule back on. The quit confirmation spells this out.
A backup didn't run at the scheduled time. Why?
Check Settings › Activity — every decision is logged in plain language: deferred by a condition (and which one), inside a blackout window, paused, skipped, waiting out a retry after a failure, or caught up later after sleep.
If the backup itself looks frozen rather than deliberately deferred, see Time Machine backup stuck? for how to tell a stall from a slow backup.
Does BackupTempo see my files?
No. It reads Time Machine's scheduling and bookkeeping metadata only — never file contents. There's no analytics or tracking of any kind; see the privacy policy.
Crash reports?
If the app crashes, the next launch offers — once — to email the crash log to support. Nothing is ever sent unless you press Send in your own mail app.
Changing the app's language.
Settings › General › Language — System Default, English, Français (Canada), Deutsch, Nederlands or Español — then Relaunch Now.
Still stuck?
[email protected] — include the log file (Settings › Activity › Open Log File) and we'll figure it out.