Download & install
Grab the carbon copy cloner download for Mac free from this page and drag CCC into your Applications folder. ~30 MB · Apple-notarised installer.
v7.1.2 · macOS 12 → 26 · Apple Silicon native
Carbon Copy Cloner Mac Free — bootable backup & full disk clone
Download Carbon Copy Cloner (CCC) for Mac free and create a complete, bootable copy of your startup disk in minutes. Scheduled backups, snapshot retention, cloud destinations and verified byte-by-byte cloning — the trusted mac backup standard since 2002.
4.9 · 5,800 reviews
Apple-notarised
No subscription
1.5M+Macs backed up
24 yrsSince 2002
10 minFirst backup
$0Full version
How it works
Bootable backup in three steps
From download to a verified, bootable clone — under 10 minutes on Apple Silicon, no expert knowledge required.
Pick source & destination
Choose your startup disk as source, plug in an external SSD as destination, and set a schedule. CCC handles APFS, snapshots and verification automatically.
Start the first clone
Click Start. The first run copies everything; every later run only copies what changed. If a drive ever fails, you boot from the clone and keep working.
What CCC does
Everything a serious mac backup needs
Six modules in one app — each one closes a different recovery gap so a single failure never costs you your work.
01
Bootable mac hard disk clone
Create a complete, bootable copy of your Mac's startup disk. Plug in the destination drive, hold Option at boot (or use Startup Disk on Apple Silicon), and you're up and running from the clone in seconds.
02
Scheduled backups
Hourly, daily, weekly, on connect, idle or wake — incremental after the first full clone.
03
APFS snapshots
Roll back to any prior state — restore a single file or an entire folder from a week ago.
04
Cloud & network destinations
Back up to local drives, NAS, SMB/AFP/NFS shares or cloud storage — chain destinations in one task for layered protection.
05
Byte verification
Checksum pass after every clone confirms source = destination exactly.
06
Menubar Dashboard
Live status, transfer chart and next-run timer — one click to start, stop or skip.
Inside the app
A clean, focused interface built for backup
Six core views handle everything. Click through the tabs to see how CCC presents tasks, schedules, snapshots and advanced options.
SuperDuper vs Carbon Copy Cloner
How CCC compares to other Mac backup tools
Six head-to-head features that matter most when you actually need to restore.
| Feature | Carbon Copy Cloner | SuperDuper! | Time Machine | Backblaze |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bootable mac hard disk clone | ||||
| Incremental scheduling | Basic | |||
| APFS snapshot retention | ||||
| Cloud destinations | ||||
| Byte-by-byte verification | Hidden | |||
| Price | Free | $28 | Free | $99/yr |
↔ swipe to compare all columns
Mac & Windows
Carbon Copy Cloner for Mac, options for PC
CCC is Mac-only. For carbon copy cloner windows / pc users, free disk-imaging tools cover the same scenarios.
Carbon Copy Cloner for MacThe official CCC app
Mac carbon copy cloner is the standard for serious backup on macOS. It treats your Mac as a single, recoverable system — not just a folder of files — so you can rebuild after a failed SSD or a botched system update in minutes instead of days.
- Native bootable clones (T2 & Apple Silicon)
- APFS snapshots with point-in-time restore
- Smart Updates — incremental after first full clone
- Universal binary — M1, M2, M3, M4
- macOS Monterey, Ventura, Sonoma, Sequoia & Tahoe
Carbon Copy Cloner for WindowsClosest free PC alternatives
Looking for carbon copy cloner for pc or carbon copy cloner windows? The official CCC ships for Mac only. Windows users get equivalent free tools that deliver the same disk-imaging and bootable-backup capability.
- Macrium Reflect Free — bootable disk image & schedule
- Hasleo Backup Suite Free — incremental imaging & clone
- AOMEI Backupper Standard — system & disk clone
- EaseUS Todo Backup Free — file-level recovery
- Veeam Agent for Windows Free — full system backup
My SSD failed during a final cut export. I plugged in the external drive, booted from the Carbon Copy Cloner clone, and was finishing the project 90 seconds later. No reinstall. No iCloud sync. No lost day.
Daniel R. · Freelance video editor, Berlin
Download Carbon Copy Cloner Mac Free
Full version. No subscription. No trial countdown. Get the carbon copy cloner download for Mac and start your first bootable backup in under 10 minutes.
// Plain-English guide for households & small offices · 2026
Carbon Copy Cloner Mac Free: the set-and-forget backup a non-technical user can trust
If your family Mac holds twenty years of photos, your kids' school projects and grandma's email archive — or if the iMac in the back office runs QuickBooks, invoices and tax returns — you need a backup that just works without anyone babysitting it. Carbon copy cloner is that backup. The app — known as CCC — quietly copies everything on your Mac onto an external drive on a schedule you set once and never have to touch again.
This page walks through Carbon Copy Cloner download for Mac free, explains what it does in plain English, and shows the small-business and family scenarios where a CCC clone is the difference between a minor inconvenience and losing irreplaceable memories or a week of billable work.
Honest answer to "is carbon copy cloner free": Yes — Carbon Copy Cloner Mac free is the full version, with no subscription, no trial countdown and no feature paywall. Perfect for the family laptop and the accountant's office Mac alike.
What it does for non-tech users
What is Carbon Copy Cloner for the family Mac
The "carbon copy" principle in plain English: copy your Mac so completely that if the original ever fails, the copy is the original. Carbon copy cloner is the macOS app that does that one job well — no checkboxes to configure, no "advanced backup strategy" to learn. For a family Mac with twenty years of photos, QuickBooks files, school work and grandparents' Mail archives, that is exactly the right ratio of effort to outcome.
For small business and family Mac users, the relevant point is this: Time Machine restores documents in random order. iCloud only syncs what fits in your plan. A bootable mac hard disk clone is the only backup that boots a working Mac with every photo, every receipt, every saved password where you left it. That is why carbon copy cloner mac free has been the household-and-bookkeeper backup answer for two decades.
"Our tax-records Mac died two days before the deadline. I plugged in the external drive, booted from the clone, finished filing the same evening."
Three pillars for normal Mac users
Carbon copy cloner for Mac: what a family backup really needs
Three things matter most when CCC backs up a household or small-business Mac — none of them require a technical background to use.
One-click bootable backup
Pick the source disk, pick the external drive, click Start. The first backup runs while you sleep; every later backup copies only what changed. No "advanced settings" needed.
Monthly schedule, set once
Schedule weekly or monthly backups when the Mac is idle. A small green checkmark in the menubar confirms the last successful run — that is everything most non-technical users ever need to see.
"Did I delete that?" rollback
APFS snapshots on the destination drive let you recover yesterday's version of a file you accidentally overwrote. No "restore from Time Machine" maze — open the snapshot, drag the file back.
Backup macbook the family way — source disk, one external drive, one schedule. The CCC menubar checkmark is the only thing you check.
For households & small biz
CCC vs the alternatives for everyone else
Three comparisons real-world Mac owners actually run when picking backup software for mac. CCC wins the "set it once and forget it" case — which is what most households actually need.
superduper vs carbon copy cloner
Both work; CCC has more set-it-and-forget-it features
SuperDuper makes a perfect clone but you re-trigger it manually. CCC schedules itself, keeps snapshots and emails you if a backup fails — three features that matter when you are not the kind of person who remembers to run a backup.
vs Time Machine
Time Machine restores files; CCC restores the whole Mac
For "I deleted a photo last Tuesday" — Time Machine is fine. For "my Mac will not turn on and I have a client meeting in two hours" — only a bootable CCC clone gets you working immediately.
vs cloud backup
Your photos on your external drive, not on a subscription
Cloud backup uploads twenty years of family photos to someone else's server every month at $10-15/month. A back up your mac via CCC plus one external SSD is a one-time $80 purchase that survives the rest of your life.
Windows households
Carbon copy cloner for PC and Windows family setups
The official carbon copy cloner is Mac only — there has never been a carbon copy cloner windows build. For Windows households and small businesses that want the same "one drive, one backup, sleep at night" outcome, three free tools cover the family/SMB workflow without forcing the household IT person to learn a new vocabulary.
Pair any of them with an external USB SSD and you get the Windows equivalent of a backup macbook routine — image of the whole machine, restorable to a new PC in an evening if the original ever fails.
M
Macrium Reflect Free
The closest carbon copy cloner for pc analogue for households. Bootable disk image, scheduled tasks, a rescue USB. The interface is plain enough that a non-technical user can follow it.
Household pick
A
AOMEI Backupper Standard
The friendliest UI of the free Windows backup tools. System clone, disk clone and file backup — set up a monthly schedule for the QuickBooks folder and forget about it.
Small biz pick
E
EaseUS Todo Backup Free
Solid file-level backup for small businesses that mostly care about preserving specific folders (tax records, client files) rather than the entire PC image.
Folder pick
Set up in an evening
How to back up mac systems the family way
Setting up backup for macbook household machines with CCC takes a single evening. After the first run the schedule continues by itself — most household users only open the app once or twice a year, and then only to check the menubar checkmark.
Carbon copy cloner download
Grab the carbon copy cloner download from the Download button on this page — ~30 MB, notarised, universal binary. Drag CCC to Applications.
Plug in one external drive
A 1-2 TB external USB SSD is the right size for most households — covers twenty years of photos plus the operating system clone. Format as APFS when CCC prompts.
Pick & schedule weekly
Source: Macintosh HD (your whole Mac). Destination: the external drive. Schedule: weekly, Sunday night, when the Mac is plugged in but idle.
Check the menubar once a month
A small green checkmark on a recent date is all you need to see. That is the entire ongoing relationship with the back up your mac routine.
One schedule, set in five minutes. Weekly Smart Updates run while the household sleeps.
Why families back up
Why every household Mac needs a bootable backup
Apple Silicon Macs are reliable, but they are not invincible. A theft, a fire, a flood, a flat-spilled coffee, a logic-board failure — any one of them takes a Mac and twenty years of family photos with it in a single moment. iCloud syncs what fits in your plan. Time.
One external drive + CCC = the whole household covered
One $80 external SSD plus carbon copy cloner mac free equals a complete recovery plan for every Mac in the house. Photos, tax records, kids' school work, grandparents' email, the small business QuickBooks file — all of it restorable in an evening. That is the entire value proposition.
iCloud has a cap
Twenty years of family photos exceed every reasonable iCloud plan budget.
Disasters happen on bad days
Tax deadlines, client meetings, exam weeks — bad luck times the worst moment.
Reinstalling apps takes a week
Re-downloading Office, signing back into every account, restoring printer drivers — not a weekend project.
A mac hard disk clone made by CCC is the cheapest insurance any household or small business can buy: one external drive, one free download, ten minutes of setup, then automatic for years. The cloning software has been the trusted carbon copy cloner for mac answer since 2002 because it does one job perfectly and asks nothing in return.
Get Carbon Copy Cloner for your household Mac — free
The simplest bootable backup any household or small business can run. Free download, no subscription, no monthly bill. One external drive plus ten minutes of setup covers the whole family.
1.5M+Households
4.8 ★2,840 reviews
24 yrsSince 2002
$0Free forever
Frequently asked
Questions about Carbon Copy Cloner
What is Carbon Copy Cloner?
Carbon Copy Cloner (CCC) is mac backup and cloning software that creates a complete, bootable copy of your Mac's startup disk. It can also back up specific folders, schedule incremental tasks, retain historical snapshots and verify every byte after each run.
Is Carbon Copy Cloner free?
Yes. You can download Carbon Copy Cloner Mac free from this page and use the full version with no time limit. There is no trial countdown, no feature paywall, and no subscription — full backup, cloning and snapshot functionality is included.
Does Carbon Copy Cloner work on Windows?
The official Carbon Copy Cloner is a Mac-only backup app. For carbon copy cloner windows workflows, Macrium Reflect Free, Hasleo Backup Suite Free and AOMEI Backupper Standard give Windows users the same disk imaging and bootable clone capability for free.
SuperDuper vs Carbon Copy Cloner — which is better?
Both create bootable mac backups. Carbon Copy Cloner offers more scheduling options, snapshot retention on APFS volumes, cloud destinations, task chaining and a faster engine. SuperDuper is simpler but lacks incremental scheduling and snapshot features.
Which macOS versions does CCC support?
Carbon copy cloner for mac runs natively on macOS Monterey (12), Ventura (13), Sonoma (14), Sequoia (15) and macOS Tahoe (26). The latest release supports both Intel and Apple Silicon Macs — M1, M2, M3 and M4.
Is a bootable backup really necessary?
For anyone whose Mac is their work machine, yes. Time Machine recovers files; a bootable CCC clone recovers the entire system. If your SSD fails or a macOS update bricks the install, you can plug in the external clone, boot from it, and continue working in minutes — no reinstall, no re-sign-ins, no lost day.