Time Machine uses more space than available in my MBP

Question

Time Machine uses more space than available in my MBP

Hi , I'm trying to backup with TM mi HD . I have a MBP with Catalina 10.15.6 installed

When TM started said that was going to backup 190 GB

When it arrived at 190GB backed up ....TM continued .

finally it finished after 10 hours saying that has backed up 280 GB (my HD only has 250 GB )

I have erased and formatted the external drive (320 GB )

I erased all app that I was not using

I also run TM in Safe mode with same result .

Any idea how to resolve the problem ?

Thanks

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Jul 31, 2020 2:21 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

fernandoricagno Author

Level 1

13 points

Aug 7, 2020 3:48 PM in response to fernandoricagno

After doing lots of tests with Apple Support they said that was a thir party application problem .

One of the tests was to generate a partition and install Catalina , but we got the same problem ,

the only solution that engineers suggest was to wipe the disk and start from scratch , thing that I refused .

I installed Big Sur in the new partition and run Time Machine , and it worked

Clearly was a bug in Catalina

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Answer 2

i_rina

Community Specialist

Aug 3, 2020 1:16 PM in response to fernandoricagno

Hello fernandoricagno,

We're more that happy to help with this trouble you're having with Time Machine using more space than is available. First, let's start by reindexing the folders on your computer to free up some space. Get the steps to do so here: How to rebuild the Spotlight index on your Mac

This will reindex the content of folders or disks on the computer, and free up space for Time Machine needed to back up correctly.

We hope this helps you. Feel free to reach back out if you have any questions.

Take care and be safe.

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Answer 3

Aug 4, 2020 4:17 AM in response to i_rina

I-Rina

Unfortunately , It didn´t work ,,, 188 GB to backup ,, it occupied 260 GB .

Another test I did was to create a new volume , reinstalled Catalina , and run the TM , same problem .

I wait your comments .

Thanks

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Answer 4

Aug 3, 2020 2:42 PM in response to i_rina

I´m going to check in minutes . I'l tell you .

Regrds

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Time Machine uses more space than available in my MBP

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