How to backup and restore SD card image on MacOS

Sometimes you want to create a backup of SD card on MacOS, for example I have a Raspberry Pi which I use to run Pi-Hole or Retropie. It’s easy to do without any extra software.

Connect SD to a computer and open Terminal

Navigate to Applications > Utilities > Terminal.

Find your SD card name

Enter the following command to find a disk name:

diskutil list

For example my SD disk is /dev/disk2

Create a backup of SD card

Using dd utility create a backup:

sudo dd if=/dev/disk2 of=PiBackup.dmg

Enter your password and wait for some time until a backup is created.

Eject the disk

Safetly eject the disk via Finder.

Restore a backup to SD card

To restore a backup insert a SD card, find it’s name via diskutil list and run the commands:

diskutil unmountDisk /dev/disk2
sudo dd if=PiBackup.dmg of=/dev/disk2

Enter the password and wait for some time until an image is copied to the disk.