How to restore a failed external HDD from Time Machine?

Question

My external HDD failed. I used a QNAP for TimeMachine but I cannot figure out how to restore the files from my HDD without mounting the old HDD. Basically, when I open TimeMachine, the HDD is not listed there and I don't have access to the files. I guess it's not listed because is not mounted on my Mac.

I tried to rename my new HDD with the same name as the old one, but this is not working. When I enter TimeMachine, it shows an empty folder.

The QNAP does show a 3.7Tb for TimeMachine, so the files should be there.

Any ideas on how to access them without using the old HDD?

Answer 1

Just open the QNAP server/drive in Finder, and you should be able to see your backups, see first picture. If you open a folder (like Applications, 2nd pic), you should be able to see everything in there, even if it's "old" (backed up a long time ago).

You should then be able to copy everything out of these folders.