OS Seirra 10.12.6
External Western Digital hard drive for Time Machine
Each time I plug in the external drive, I have a bunch of items in the trash that I am unable to delete. I also can't delete old back ups. Sometimes it'll back up, other times it'll say the disk is full. How am I able to delete the items in the trash & old back ups?
If you used the Finder to manually delete Time Machine backup files the backup should no longer be considered reliable because its database has been corrupted (see * below).
Erase the drive using Disk Utility and begin a new set of TM backups. That is the only way to recover its original capacity.
*
In the interest of technical accuracy: you can delete backup files in that manner, and it will work (see ** below), but it can take an extraordinarily long time (days) during which time the likelihood of restarting the Mac or disconnecting the backup drive is great. If that should occur, those incompletely deleted backup files renders TM's database invalid. Apple should not even permit viewing of those files using the Finder. The temptation to delete them is apparently irresistible. Look but don't touch.
**
Recent macOS versions of TM prohibit manually altering the backup drive, presumably for that reason.
If you used the Finder to manually delete Time Machine backup files the backup should no longer be considered reliable because its database has been corrupted (see * below).
Erase the drive using Disk Utility and begin a new set of TM backups. That is the only way to recover its original capacity.
*
In the interest of technical accuracy: you can delete backup files in that manner, and it will work (see ** below), but it can take an extraordinarily long time (days) during which time the likelihood of restarting the Mac or disconnecting the backup drive is great. If that should occur, those incompletely deleted backup files renders TM's database invalid. Apple should not even permit viewing of those files using the Finder. The temptation to delete them is apparently irresistible. Look but don't touch.
**
Recent macOS versions of TM prohibit manually altering the backup drive, presumably for that reason.
I am assuming.....not a smart thing to do.....that the WD drive is connected directly to your Mac via USB connection.
Start over again and erase the WD drive using Disk Utility on your Mac. (Finder > Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility)
Then, start a new Time Machine backup.
Time Machine Issues
