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time machine won't back up

Time Machine won't back up. I get a message saying that it cannot take a snapshot because there is not enough free space on the drive, when there is definitely plenty of space. I have tried with two different drives. When I first had the problem, I was able to use the second drive, which was a new drive to work. Then it stopped working with the second drive as well. Both drives work with my new Mac Pro.


What should I do?

Mac mini, macOS 10.15

Posted on Oct 25, 2021 2:42 AM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Oct 25, 2021 3:21 AM

Shinehah wrote:

Time Machine won't back up. I get a message saying that it cannot take a snapshot because there is not enough free space on the drive, when there is definitely plenty of space. I have tried with two different drives. When I first had the problem, I was able to use the second drive, which was a new drive to work. Then it stopped working with the second drive as well. Both drives work with my new Mac Pro.

What should I do?

Which drive is one referring to makes a difference.


If referring to External Drive OK.


But the message might be referring to the Internal Drive. The Time Machine Backup needs to make a Snapshot on the Internal Drive before it will transfers that SnapShot to the External Drive.


In Terminal \tmutil listlocalsnapshots /


The Terminal will show a list of local snapshots with names



What is “Other” storage on a Mac, and how can I clean it out?


Free up storage space on your Mac


OmniDiskSweeper safe to use


See used and available storage space on your Mac

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1 reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Oct 25, 2021 3:21 AM in response to madirmur59

Shinehah wrote:

Time Machine won't back up. I get a message saying that it cannot take a snapshot because there is not enough free space on the drive, when there is definitely plenty of space. I have tried with two different drives. When I first had the problem, I was able to use the second drive, which was a new drive to work. Then it stopped working with the second drive as well. Both drives work with my new Mac Pro.

What should I do?

Which drive is one referring to makes a difference.


If referring to External Drive OK.


But the message might be referring to the Internal Drive. The Time Machine Backup needs to make a Snapshot on the Internal Drive before it will transfers that SnapShot to the External Drive.


In Terminal \tmutil listlocalsnapshots /


The Terminal will show a list of local snapshots with names



What is “Other” storage on a Mac, and how can I clean it out?


Free up storage space on your Mac


OmniDiskSweeper safe to use


See used and available storage space on your Mac

time machine won't back up

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