OK to delete old Time Machine backups?

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Level 1

4 points

OK to delete old Time Machine backups?

I have an old iMac and used Time Machine to backup to an external drive (before wiping the iMac's hard drive). Now I would like to use that external drive with my new Mac Studio, but not as a backup drive. I need to be able to access the files that were included in the backup of the old iMac. When I mount the drive, in Finder I see the backup folder with four backups in it. They appear to be identical (same file size) and contain all the files I need. To clear up space, can I use finder to delete the older backups and keep only the most recent backup? I don't want to lose the data from the old iMac, but I don't need four copies of it.

Will be backing up with Time Machine to a new, larger external hard drive, by the way.

Mac Studio (2023)

Posted on Jan 1, 2024 5:27 PM

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Answer 1

John Galt

Level 10

156,704 points

Jan 1, 2024 6:21 PM in response to daniel_nyc

I am not sure I completely understand your concern correctly. If you need to restore files backed up by TM, then restore them: Restore items backed up with Time Machine on Mac - Apple Support.

To clear up space, can I use finder to delete the older backups and keep only the most recent backup?

No.

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Answer 2

Barney-15E

Level 10

123,008 points

Jan 1, 2024 5:35 PM in response to daniel_nyc

All of the backups should look almost identical because each successive backup makes a file reference of all the files that did not change. If you delete the older backups, you will delete the originals. Because of the way the references are made, you might be ok, but maybe not.

You will certainly make the backup useless for Time Machine to use in the future.

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OK to delete old Time Machine backups?

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