How to correctly delete Time Machine backups?

Question

Level 1

48 points

How to correctly delete Time Machine backups?

Hi! I was using an external hard drive for Time Machine backups with my old MacBook. I now have a new MacBook and would like to continue using the same external hard drive for Time Machine backups.

The external hard drive is quite full and there isn’t enough room to do a full backup of the new MacBook. I would like to delete most of the old backups to make room for the new one, but I’d like to keep the most recent backup from the old Mac.

I have read in many places that it should not be done in Finder because it can corrupt the structure of the Time Machine backups or something like that. What is the correct way to do this please?

Posted on Aug 11, 2025 3:26 PM

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Answer 1

BDAqua

Level 10

250,595 points

Aug 11, 2025 3:32 PM in response to amd1

Correct, only do it in TM itself…

To delete old or unwanted Time Machine backups on a Mac, open Time Machine from Launchpad or the menu bar, select the backup, and click the gear icon to choose "Delete Backup". Alternatively, you can browse the external drive in Finder, locate the Backups.backupdb folder, right-click the specific backup folder, and select "Move to Bin/Trash". For more control, use the Terminal to run tmutil delete with the specific backup's path or tmutil listbackups to find the backup's exact name.

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Answer 2

den.thed

Level 10

93,346 points

Aug 11, 2025 7:59 PM in response to amd1

I concur with Barney-15E

Keep the old Mac's backups on the old external drive and start new backups for the new Mac on a new external drive.

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Answer 3

Barney-15E

Level 10

123,122 points

Aug 11, 2025 5:17 PM in response to amd1

As of Sequoia, there is no way to delete backups.

Also, you can't just leave the "most recent backup." The most recent backup doesn't contain all of the data, only the most recent changes. It may appear to have the entire Mac in it, that is an illusion.

If you need to keep the old backups, buy a new drive.

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Answer 4

amd1 Author

Level 1

48 points

Aug 12, 2025 12:20 AM in response to Barney-15E

@Barney-15E thank you. That’s a good point about the recent backup. I was wondering that myself.

The old Mac backups were made with Ventura, which is still installed on the old Mac. There doesn’t seem to be a way to delete them there either, so it looks like a new hard drive is necessary.

Regarding a new hard drive for TM backups, other than speed, are there any differences between using a hard drive vs SSD for this purpose?

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Answer 5

Owl-53

Level 10

105,319 points

Aug 12, 2025 12:44 AM in response to amd1

amd1 wrote:

@Barney-15E thank you. That’s a good point about the recent backup. I was wondering that myself.

The old Mac backups were made with Ventura, which is still installed on the old Mac. There doesn’t seem to be a way to delete them there either, so it looks like a new hard drive is necessary.