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How do I erase old backup files from an external drive?

I use a Seagate external drive to store the Time Machine backups and it is filling up. How do I selectively delete the older files? I tried dragging to Trash but they never finish deleting and stay in the trash bin.

iMac 21.5″ 4K, macOS 12.1

Posted on Jan 5, 2022 3:21 AM

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Posted on Jan 5, 2022 3:34 AM

Welcome. Disable Time Machine in System Preferences > Time Machine. Open Disk Utility, select the top level of the drive, click Erase, Settings…

The files in the Trash will be gone once you erase the drive.

3 replies

How do I erase old backup files from an external drive?

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