Time Machine: I backed up on a drive with pre-existing files, and can't access them now... are they completely gone?
I backed up on a drive with pre-existing files, and can't access them now... are they completely gone?
MacBook Pro
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See this article: https://support.apple.com/en-my/guide/mac-help/mh15139/11.0/mac/11.0
It used to be that miscellaneous files could be stored on external disks used for Time Machine, but in Big Sur the entire disk is reserved for Time Machine.
"Note: The entire APFS disk is reserved for Time Machine backups. If you want to store files other than the Time Machine backup on the same physical device, use Disk Utility to create an additional APFS volume on the disk. The two volumes then share the available space."
It is possible that the pre-existing files are indeed gone. Perhaps try searching for one with Spotlight to see if it can be located.
