Getting started

Yester is a menu bar app for Macs with Apple silicon running macOS 26 or later. Setup takes about five minutes; the first backup takes longer, and you can keep using your Mac while it runs.

Download Yester.dmg from the download page, open it and drag Yester to your Applications folder. Open Yester and sign in with Apple, or with your email address and the six-digit code we send you. If this is your first Mac on Yester, you’ll create an account and choose the country your backups are kept in. That choice is made once, for the whole account.

2. Enter your admin password

Yester installs a small helper that runs backups on a schedule — even when the app is closed, and even while you’re logged out. macOS asks for your password once to allow it.

3. Allow Full Disk Access

System Settings opens on the Privacy & Security page. Switch Yester on. Without it, macOS hides Mail, Messages, Photos and app data from Yester, and a backup that misses those isn’t a backup of your whole Mac.

4. Save your recovery key

Yester creates a recovery key and shows it once. Put it in your password manager, print it, or let Yester keep a copy in your iCloud Keychain — or all three. Everything you back up is encrypted on your Mac with a key that only the recovery key can unlock. Yester never has a copy, so Yester cannot recover your data without it. See Security and the recovery key.

5. Choose a plan

Yester reads your Mac’s built-in storage and shows the price for it. Pick how far back you want to be able to go — 90 days, 1 year or 5 years — and add a card. There is no trial; instead, you can ask for a full refund within 60 days from your account page. See Plans and history windows.

6. Let the first backup run

The first backup is the big one. Irreplaceable things go first: documents, desktop and projects are safe within the hour, then photos and media, then mail and app data, then apps and settings. Yester pauses on battery power, slows down during video calls, and picks up where it left off if you close the lid or restart. Leave your Mac plugged in and awake overnight to get it done sooner.

From then on Yester backs up every hour on its own. The Overview screen tells you when the last backup ran and when the next one starts; the menu bar icon shows the same at a glance.

Adding another Mac

Install Yester on the other Mac and sign in with the same account. Each Mac is its own subscription line, priced by its own built-in storage, with its own recovery key. Storage is never shared or pooled between devices.