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"Time Machine could not back up the disk “SSD-Macintosh HD” because a snapshot of the disk could not be created."

After the newest IOS update (Ventura 13.0.1), I got a slew of surprises, one of the biggest being "Time Machine could not back up the disk “SSD-Macintosh HD” because a snapshot of the disk could not be created." Have any of you come across the same issue? And if so, what worked for you?

P.S. I had no issues with Time Machine before the update. iMac is 2017 27", Intel Core i5

iMac

Posted on Nov 24, 2022 7:37 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Nov 24, 2022 7:44 AM

before a backup can be sent to the TM drive, a "snapshot" needs to be made on your local drive. that message means that you need to free up space on your local drive.


if you are running low on space, you can purchase an external HDD or SSD of sufficient capacity and move your larger files (videos, pictures, documents, etc...) to it. once they are on the EHD, you can simply erase the same files from your internal drive. and, if it's just going to be used for storage, you can use an HDD and save a few bucks over the cost of an SSD. FWIW, i personally keep very little on my internal drive.


also, you may want to read these two articles:


Optimize storage space on your Mac


How to free up storage space on your Mac


additionally, you want to keep ~ 20% of your local drive as free space for proper operation of macOS.

2 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Nov 24, 2022 7:44 AM in response to ia enstera

before a backup can be sent to the TM drive, a "snapshot" needs to be made on your local drive. that message means that you need to free up space on your local drive.


if you are running low on space, you can purchase an external HDD or SSD of sufficient capacity and move your larger files (videos, pictures, documents, etc...) to it. once they are on the EHD, you can simply erase the same files from your internal drive. and, if it's just going to be used for storage, you can use an HDD and save a few bucks over the cost of an SSD. FWIW, i personally keep very little on my internal drive.


also, you may want to read these two articles:


Optimize storage space on your Mac


How to free up storage space on your Mac


additionally, you want to keep ~ 20% of your local drive as free space for proper operation of macOS.

Nov 24, 2022 7:45 AM in response to ia enstera

AFAIK the " SSD-Macintosh HD " is where the Actual Operating System Resides


It is a volume that is  Sealed and Read Only Volume that can not be opened by the User.


Time Machine Backup, somewhere around macOS 10.15 Catalina, does not make a Complete and Entire Backup of the Operating System .


It does backup the Home Folder ( User Account ) but not the Operating System itself.

"Time Machine could not back up the disk “SSD-Macintosh HD” because a snapshot of the disk could not be created."

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