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I have Time Machine backups that are from computers that I no longer own. What is the safest way to delete those backups to regain the space? I am using a 2TB Airport for backup. My Mac is a 2020 vintage mini running Catalina.
If it were me, I would restore from the most recent backup and as soon as things were working again, I would erase the Time Capsule and start over again with a new backup and move forward.
Time Machine will start all over again with a new backup, so it will not back up to any of the existing sparsebundles that might be on the Time Capsule hard drive.
As far as erasing individual sparsebundles, they have always taken 10-15 minutes or so for me, but I can't say for you.
If it were me, I would restore from the most recent backup and as soon as things were working again, I would erase the Time Capsule and start over again with a new backup and move forward.
Time Machine will start all over again with a new backup, so it will not back up to any of the existing sparsebundles that might be on the Time Capsule hard drive.
As far as erasing individual sparsebundles, they have always taken 10-15 minutes or so for me, but I can't say for you.
Each backup of each Mac is stored on the Time Ca[sule hard drive........named "Data", unless you have changed the name........in a special type of file called a sparsebundle. The name of the file includes the name of the Mac whose backups are contained in that file.
Use the Finder to open up the drive and select the sparsebundle that you want to delete and drag it to the trash. The file will normally be deleted in 5-10 minutes or so. Then, delete other sparsebundle files that you no longer need the same way.
If you can afford to completely erase the hard drive, that is a simpler.....and faster......method to use, but this will of course wipe everything from the hard drive. AirPort Utility is used to erase the Time Capsule hard drive by selecting the Disks tab. Use the "Quick Erase" option.
Thanks. I have seen this listed as solution on other webpages but it always comes with a warning that the erase either takes hours or that this method can somehow screw up the TM database. I am going to pick out the oldest and most useless sparse bundle to try first.
Oh, just for a complete reply, I can't erase the whole drive just yet. My MacBook Pro just came back from repair and I need to restore the last backup.
I like this solution.
Deleting obsolete backups from Time Machine
