Deleting OLD backup files from time machine on a 20 TB external drive
I have a 20 TB external HD and backup files created in 2018. How do I get rid of these old files? Many are so old that they are essentially useless. I am currently using operating system 13.6.1, Ventura. Many of these backup files were created for earlier operating systems and almost all the 2018 applications have evolved to the point they are no longer viable to restore. I have backups that were created for Leopard MAC OS 10.5. It would seem prudent that there should be a way to delete old system backup files especially as external drives have gotten so large: 20MB and beyond. Many large external drives were never set up with partitions to store system backups. I have plenty of external storage space still available, so this issue isn't about regaining storage space but about managing clutter and getting rid of backups that are so outdated that they are no longer viable to restore or that it would be imprudent to restore them. Restoring Leopard OS 10.5 files in a world using Ventura OS 13.6 Ventura, or Sonoma OS 14, would, I think, asking for trouble. And yet those files reside in my Time Machine backup for posterity.
iMac Pro (2017)