Time Machine: Cannot delete old backups due to locked files

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Time Machine: Cannot delete old backups due to locked files

My hard drive backup machine contains old backups going back to 2019 which I want to delete to create more space. However, there are locked files throughout the backups, so that I can't manually delete the oldest backup. I have no idea how to find them and there are hundreds of thousands of items in each full backup. Is there a go-round? OS 15 Sequoia, MacBook Air using Time Machine to back up to an external HD.

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 15.6

Posted on Jan 31, 2026 9:03 AM

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Answer 1

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Old Toad

Level 10

216,854 points

Feb 2, 2026 11:54 AM in response to jeffreythefrog

jeffreythefrog wrote:

deleting specific backup files from Time Machine is not recommended. it is a great way to corrupt your entire Time Machine.

if it was me, I would put the old drive away if you think you might need some of the data on it in the future. and I would get a new external HDD and start fresh. or if the data is no longer needed, I would erase the old drive and start fresh.

with my cuz.

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Answer 2

Jan 31, 2026 9:29 AM in response to cijc

deleting specific backup files from Time Machine is not recommended. it is a great way to corrupt your entire Time Machine.

if it was me, I would put the old drive away if you think you might need some of the data on it in the future. and I would get a new external HDD and start fresh. or if the data is no longer needed, I would erase the old drive and start fresh.

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Answer 3

Owl-53

Level 10

105,651 points

Feb 1, 2026 5:09 AM in response to cijc

I total agree with my colleague @jefferythefrog 👍

From another similar question related to manually deleting older Time Machine Backup on the External Drive

Delete old Time Machine backups, keep recent

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