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Time Machine is supposed to delete the oldest backup if there's not enough space for the current backup, but it never does. It just tells me the Time Machine disk is full. What's going on, and why doesn't it delete older backups?
Mac mini, macOS 13.0
Consider the possibility that the backup disk contains a backup set for what it may consider a different Mac.
"Different" in that sense could be the same Mac but with a startup disk that was renamed at some point. In that hypothetical situation that set of backups becomes segregated and its older backups never deleted.
In that event the fix is as Barney-15E wrote: erase the disk and start over. For that reason and others, one and only one backup disk does not comprise an effective backup strategy. Time Machine will back up to as many backup disks as you wish to provide.
Consider the possibility that the backup disk contains a backup set for what it may consider a different Mac.
"Different" in that sense could be the same Mac but with a startup disk that was renamed at some point. In that hypothetical situation that set of backups becomes segregated and its older backups never deleted.
In that event the fix is as Barney-15E wrote: erase the disk and start over. For that reason and others, one and only one backup disk does not comprise an effective backup strategy. Time Machine will back up to as many backup disks as you wish to provide.
Thanks, John. Erasing & starting over is what I’ve done in the past, but now I know what the problem is. I have a habit of renaming my drives. I guess that’s not such a good idea. (Not to worry, I have several backups.)🙃
At some point, it is not possible to make enough room.
How much data are you backing up and how large is the TM drive? How much space is available?
If mine get full, I just erase and start over.
Time Machine disk full
