I want to do a fresh re-installation of macOS High Sierra 10.13.6 on my computer. To do so:
- I uninstalled all unwanted apps.
- Backed up my computer with Time Machine.
First question
After reinstallation when I use my backup to restore my files and settings, will it restore any unwanted files such as: preferences, directories and leftovers from apps that I had deleted or will Time Machine exclude them and not transfer to my freshly reinstalled macOS?
My second question
Does Time Machine backup caches, temporary files, directories and other similar stuff, which can be generated again without any harm ?
I've been searching a lot recently but I haven't found a clear and conclusive answer.
Best Answer
To avoid a long and fastidious answer:
/
./System/Library/CoreServices/backupd.bundle/Contents/Resources/StdExclusions.plist
.Applications Support
,Preferences
. So, to be short: if you consider that removing an app == moving in the Trash folder, then you will restore all the files spread on your system by the apps you "deleted" before your last backup. If you deleted them properly by removing the .app and all the linked files spread on your system, you will end up with a clean system.