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CCC 6 is here! Faster backups, better accountability, Dark Mode, and so much more

Mike Bombich May 12, 2021
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We've had so many new features in the oven for a while, and now we're finally ready to share it with the world! CCC 6 offers unprecedented accountability for your backups and insight into what's changing on your Mac, plus a brand new file copier that's faster, smarter, and designed to adapt to Apple's fast pace of OS and filesystem innovation.

Take a look at what's new in CCC 6:

The core CCC backup features you know and love are now better than ever!

Faster backups with our next-generation file copier

We've completely rebuilt our file copier to take advantage of the performance characteristics of modern storage. Built on a multi-threaded design, our new file copier provides a foundation for many of the new features noted below, and paves the way for many new features in the future.

Quick Update: Update your backups up to 20X faster

CCC can now tap into the macOS FSEvents service for a list of folders modified on the source since the last backup rather than scanning every folder for changes. Especially for tasks involving a destination network volume, the performance benefit of this feature cannot be overstated!

Redesigned Interface with Dark Mode

It’s been a while since we’ve given CCC’s interface an update and think you’ll enjoy its sleek new look. CCC’s main window is reorganized to make it smaller while making many of the controls and font sizes larger. We completely redesigned every element in CCC to offer a high quality Dark Mode experience. CCC now offers more detailed progress indication while a task is running, including a time remaining estimate. File processing and transfer rates are now charted live during backup tasks.

Snapshot Navigator: Easy way to explore older versions of files

Looking to restore a specific version of a file? CCC's Snapshot Navigator allows you to step through older versions of your backups and get a preview of your files as they were at specific points in time.

CCC Dashboard: The new menubar application

CCC’s menubar app is better than ever. Of course, Dashboard still offers one-click access to starting, stopping and monitoring your CCC tasks alongside details about recent task activity. But it now also tracks the disk usage consumed by snapshots. Have you ever deleted files from the startup disk, emptied the Trash, then wondered why the space wasn't freed? If a sudden change in snapshot-related disk usage occurs, or if disk usage is exceeding expectations, CCC raises the change to your attention so you can address the root of the matter.

Run backups "When files are modified on the source"

Using the same underlying technology that’s used by the "Quick Update" feature, CCC 6 offers a new automation option that allows you to have a task run when a threshold of data changes have occurred at the source. So rather than hourly or daily, etc., the task will run after 5GB’s worth of data has changed (for example). You can throttle that with a time limit as well, e.g. don’t run the task more than once every 5 minutes.

Task Preview: See what will happen before you back up

If you've ever been nervous about what changes CCC may make on a destination volume, you can use the new Preview feature in CCC 6 to see what's going to happen before making the changes. This "Dry Run" is available via the Preview button in CCC's toolbar, and any time you save a task for which the SafetyNet feature has been disabled.

Backup Audit: Review what was copied and why

What was copied, and why? You asked for this, and we're delivering it with style in CCC 6. When your tasks run, CCC will record detailed information about the transactions that occurred during the task, e.g. files copied, files updated, folders created or updated, files deleted or archived. You can view these backup audits in CCC's Task History window, and never again wonder why CCC copied a particular file.

Compare: Visual comparison of the source and destination

CCC's Compare feature offers a visual comparison of your task's source and destination, and provides details if the differences are the result of a task filter. Use this feature to quickly determine if something is missing from the backup, or if folder size differences are simply the result of files sitting in the Trash.

Advanced File verification

CCC 6 can evaluate files at the end of the backup task, and also offers the opportunity to verify files on the source and destination, independently, against a hash that was recorded when the file was last copied.

Other new features and improvements

  • Per-task control over the file copier's CPU usage.
  • You can temporarily pause a backup task.
  • More information about your source and destination right at your fingertips – click on the source or destination selector to see extensive information about the selected volume.
  • Items that cause task errors can be excluded directly from the Task History Errors table.
  • CCC's Task Filter now offers support for respecting macOS "backupd" exclusions (i.e. exclusions defined for Time Machine).

Upgrading to CCC 6

Your CCC 4 or 5 license may be eligible for upgrade pricing, check here for eligibility. CCC 6 offers a 30-day trial period with no limits, so download CCC 6 today and check out the new features and functionality!

Additional Resources

CCC does everything you wish Time Machine did (and more!)

CCC is an advanced backup and file copying utility. We offer "point in time" restores comparable to Time Machine, but with CCC you can also:

  • Create non-proprietary copies of your data, on locally-attached or network volumes
  • Perform folder-to-folder copies
  • Copy one external volume to another
  • Apply advanced filters to define precisely what should be excluded from or included in a file copying task
  • Verify, and re-verify later, the integrity of the files that were copied by CCC
  • Schedule your backup tasks with greater flexibility (hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, apply time limits based on the day of week or the hour of day)
  • Configure backup/file copying tasks to occur when a volume is mounted
  • Get detailed insight into which files are changing on your Mac
  • Examine the differences between your source and destination
  • Preview changes to the destination before actually making them
  • Proactively detect (and address on the destination) and deter "bit rot" on your source and destination hard drives
  • Get insight into the performance and health of your hardware, now and over time