How to make Time Machine backups go to the right history of backups?

Question

How to make Time Machine backups go to the right history of backups?

Hi,

The Time Machine backups from my MacBook Air go to different USB external disks (stored in different locations even). I moved to a new MacBook Air with the Migration Assistant.

But now the backups go different on the different disks. On one as expected (Seagate Expansion Drive in the image) on another a new Time Machine backup appears with the number 2 appended to it, (One Touch) instead of just incrementally continuing with the existing backup. Instead I see the backups of last month there in the second folder.

When I browse backups from the Time Machine interface it does go all the way back to 2022!

I am inclined to delete that second archive of backups with the 2 appended to the name in the hope it will pick up on the 'orginal' history of backups and continue there. But Time Machine does not allow me to delete it and on the web Mac websites advise me not to mess with Time Machine backups from the finder.

But it is messy like this! Also, I store a backup from another Mac on those USB disks and in the future even more. I want to prevent messy situations in the future.

How to fix it? Please advice.

MacBook Air 15″, macOS 15.0

Posted on Oct 5, 2024 5:31 AM

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Answer 1

VikingOSX

Level 10

123,218 points

Oct 5, 2024 6:13 AM in response to ReindeR Rustema

I would never recommend wiping two years of backup data. Label each drive with the specific Mac that backed up to it, the date, and the last operating system version. Set both drives aside for safekeeping.

Start with a new Time Machine drive on the new MacBook Air that you have formatted as a single partition (whole drive) as an APFS formatted drive. Associate that new drive with Time Machine via System Settings > General > Time Machine panel. Perform your first full backup of that new MacBook Air. The contents of that backup will look like this with no Backups.backupd folder structure:

This is a new 2GB Crucial X9 SSD plugged into my USB-C port, hence my naming convention for the drive name and that this is a Sequoia TM drive. That drive fits in the palm of your hand with room to spare — it is small.

My Sonoma 14.7 drive is sitting on the Desktop labeled with its last backup date, and the operating system version. One can only have one drive name before identical names get a numeric suffix added to the drive name. You do not want this. Unmount your old MacBook Air Time Machine drive from your new Air.

As you may still wish to continue using the older MacBook Air, there is no reason you cannot continue the use of its original Time Machine backup drive with it.

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Answer 2

VikingOSX

Level 10

123,218 points

Oct 5, 2024 5:35 AM in response to ReindeR Rustema

Had you started the Sequoia Time Machine backups on a new APFS formatted drive, it would not be confusing, nor would it co-mingle with the older Backups.backupd folder structure that is no longer used by Time Machine. You cannot delete Time Machine backups to resolve this misstep.

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Answer 3

Oct 5, 2024 5:46 AM in response to VikingOSX

Both disks are formatted "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)" but one behaves different from the other. Should I reformat both to get the desired structure (and lose all the backups going back to 2022) or is there another way?

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Answer 4

Oct 5, 2024 6:23 AM in response to VikingOSX

I see APFS has certain advantages that I actually need, come to think of it. The backups from 2022 probably won't have any data I need to go back to. Data was only added and I did not delete anything substantial. I would have found out by now. I will start with APFS for the One Touch and the other in a later stage. Thank you.

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