My Time Machine disk is full. Time Machine is supposed to clean up old backups, but it doesn't. Previously i deleted the backups manually, but this is supposed to be Time Machines tasks.

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shambhallah Author

Level 1

10 points

My Time Machine disk is full. Time Machine is supposed to clean up old backups, but it doesn't. Previously i deleted the backups manually, but this is supposed to be Time Machines tasks.

Kappy said - "You need at least 2-3 times the capacity of the source. In your case,

you are near the minimum as relates to your data. If the source drive is

1TB as is the backup drive, then you don't have a large enough backup

drive to meet even the minimum size needed."

This is not a solution as I have as 1.03 TB

Fusion Drive in my Imac and was sold a LaCie Porche External 2 TB

extrenal drive by apple for the backups - but it is not deleting the backups and deleting them manually is a pain in the bit slow and I dont know the external is full until it starts trying to save them locally which causes all sorts of issues -

Posted on Feb 7, 2021 5:15 PM

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Answer 1

Jack-19

Level 8

46,020 points

Feb 7, 2021 5:31 PM in response to shambhallah

Hi there,

You should never manually delete Time Machine backups. If you are out of space, taker SeaPapp’s advice and erase the disk and start over, or get a larger drive.

If you need a larger drive, I always recommend the G-Technology G-Drive USB-C 4TB: https://shop.westerndigital.com/products/external-drives/g-technology-g-drive-usb-c-usb-3-1-hdd#0G05666-1.

Cheers,

Jack

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Answer 2

Jack-19

Level 8

46,020 points

Feb 7, 2021 10:56 PM in response to shambhallah

You cannot really stop it from happening. Time Machine is designed to backup often and always have lots of backups and history of your Mac. If you get a 4TB G-Tech G-Drive (see link above), you may never fill that drive up. It will last you a very long time.

Cheers,

Jack

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Answer 3

SeaPapp

Level 7

26,486 points

Feb 8, 2021 4:33 AM in response to shambhallah

Time Machine is a wonderful backup utility, sometimes it doesn't act as we'd expect for whatever reason. Manually deleting backups if not done properly will cause problems. While this is a very dated reference you may fine some help here http://oldtoad.net/pondini.org/TM/C4.html

This site does not mark posts helpful or solved, only you can do that.

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Answer 4

SeaPapp

Level 7

26,486 points

Feb 7, 2021 5:27 PM in response to shambhallah

Easiest solution is just to erase the Time Machine drive and start a new backup set, or buy another drive and start a new backup.

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Answer 5

shambhallah Author

Level 1

10 points

Feb 7, 2021 10:51 PM in response to Jack-19

thank you that is great advise - but it will only fill up again - so how do I stop that happening - its a bit expensive to just keep buying external hard-drives all the time.

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Answer 6

shambhallah Author

Level 1

10 points

Feb 7, 2021 10:53 PM in response to SeaPapp

thank you that is great advise - but it will only fill up again - so

how do I stop that happening - its a bit expensive to just keep buying

external hard-drives all the time.

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Answer 7

shambhallah Author

Level 1

10 points

Feb 8, 2021 12:29 AM in response to Jack-19

I have a 2TB drive that fills in a couple of months - so I might get 4 months out of 4TB drive - THE question is HOW DO I GET TIME MACHINE TO DELETE ITS BACKUS AS IT IS SUPPOSED TO

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Answer 8

shambhallah Author

Level 1

10 points

Feb 8, 2021 12:31 AM in response to shambhallah

Also why does this site mark things as "solved" when the inital problem has not even been addressed

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My Time Machine disk is full. Time Machine is supposed to clean up old backups, but it doesn't. Previously i deleted the backups manually, but this is supposed to be Time Machines tasks.

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