I’d like to consolidate a series of about a dozen Time Machine backups that I know contain some unique files and some common files. I’m trying to save space, and also have one archive that has only unique files. How do I do that?
MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 14.5
Time machine does not store multiple copies of the same file. it links to the one that was stored previously in the same backup set.
A modified file is not the same file, so the modified file would be stored as of the first date it appeared, and later backups would link the later copy, when you run your backup later.
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Time machine does its own consolidation of older backups when the disk starts to get full. You should NOT intervene with Finder.
Time machine creates a complex database from the backups made on the same drive over time. because of this:
Manually intervening in Time machine backups will Destry the database, rendering your entire backup SET useless. DON'T DO THAT!
You can already re-create the state of you Mac as of any date still continued in the backup set. You use Time Machine.app (not to be confused with time machine control panel) to do that trick.
navigate to the folder or drive you want to see re-created and choose 'Enter time machine' off the time machine menubar icon.
The current state is shown in the front window, with older versions receding back in time.
Thanks for the reply! Sounds like you’re telling me how to reconstruct a stored backup. What I’d like to do is different. I’m trying to combine my backups so I just have the unique files stored, not all the copies of the same backed up files. Can I do that on a Mac?
How to merge Time Machine backups
