Time Machine keeps saying not enough space

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Level 2

428 points

Time Machine keeps saying not enough space

After upgrading to Yosemite (10.10.1 now), Time Machine keeps giving me the message, "Backup Failed. There isn't enough space on 'Time Capsule.'" My Time Capsule is 1TB and the contents of my MacBook Pro and external hard drive are only 800 GB. I've been backing up to that Time Capsule for a few years with the same configuration and had no problems.

I deleted the contents of Time Capsule and re-backed up from scratched. That fixed the problem, the first time. But subsequent backups got the above message again.

Any idea what's happening any how I can resume using Time Machine? Thanks!

MacBook Pro, OS X Yosemite (10.10)

Posted on Dec 12, 2014 12:53 PM

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Answer 1

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,709 points

Dec 12, 2014 3:03 PM in response to The Zach

Time Machine automatically deletes old snapshots to make room for new ones, but it won't delete the last previous snapshot of any disk.

Are you storing any other data on the backup volume, or have you ever backed up another disk or computer to it that you no longer have? If the answer to both these questions in "no," then there isn't enough space on the volume for all the data you want to back up.

If you are storing other data, or if you have backups of a volume you no longer need, you should move or delete that data to make room for more. Alternatively, put the device aside and start a new backup on another storage device. When you're sure you'll no longer need the data on the first device, erase it and start over.

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Answer 2

The Zach Author

Level 2

428 points

Dec 12, 2014 6:07 PM in response to Linc Davis

Thanks for the help Linc!

Are you storing any other data on the backup volume, or have you ever backed up another disk or computer to it that you no longer have?

No to both.

If the answer to both these questions in "no," then there isn't enough space on the volume for all the data you want to back up.

The devices I'm trying to backup to Time Capsule are

MacBook Pro: 484 GB
External HD: 387 GB

That figure totals 871 GB. Per System Preferences, the Time Capsule's capacity has 998 GB. But when it tries to backup, it says, "The backup disk needs 424.20 GB for the backup but only 153.67 GB are available. Select a larger backup disk or make the backup smaller by excluding files."

When I first encounter this problem, I cleaned the data off the Time Capsule, confirmed it was empty, and backed up. That worked fine. The problem recurred though on subsequent back ups. I'm fine with wiping it out again (it's just the one back-up from earlier this week) if need be.

Any suggestions? Thanks again!

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Answer 3

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,709 points

Dec 12, 2014 6:57 PM in response to The Zach

Time Machine pads out the space requirement by around 15%. Your backup volume is too small. You can connect a larger USB hard drive to the USB port on the TC and use that.

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Answer 4

Dec 13, 2014 10:04 AM in response to Linc Davis

Time Machine USED to delete the older files to make room for the NEWER files. I never had this problem until I updated to Yosemite. The Zach is absolutely right. This is a new and unpleasant thing.

Sterling

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Answer 5

The Zach Author

Level 2

428 points

Dec 14, 2014 8:15 AM in response to Sterling Hill

Thanks Linc! I excluded about 250 GB of content from the external hard drive and Time Machine is backing up fine now.

Totally agree Sterling—seems like a bit of a coincidence that this problem didn't occur until after we upgraded to Yosemite. Sorry to hear you're having it too.

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Answer 6

Dec 16, 2014 6:59 AM in response to The Zach

well let me ask this:

"Time Machine is a backup utility, not an archival utility, it is not intended as offline storage. Time Machine captures the most recent state of your data on your disk. As snapshots age, they are prioritized progressively lower compared to your more recent ones."

the way I've understood it is that Time Machine 'archives' and as it does it writes over the oldest to provide the newest.

If that's true, you wouldn't need to exclude content for it to work.

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