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If I delete files from my mac will they eventually get deleted from my backup copy? If so how can I prevent that so I can clear space on my mac and keep the copies on the external hard-drive?

If I delete files from my mac will they eventually get deleted from my backup copy? If so how can I prevent that so I can clear space on my mac and keep the copies on the external hard-drive?

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.7.5)

Posted on Dec 29, 2012 1:10 PM

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2 replies

Dec 29, 2012 3:56 PM in response to Maria7131

Actually, if you are using Time Machine for your backups, those backups do eventually get deleted and replaced with newer ones. Eventually, the backup with your single remaining copy of something important could get deleted. In fact over enough time, it WILL get deleted. Time Machine keeps sort of a moving window of backups in time, so eventually the oldest ones get discarded to make room for newer ones.


If you just copied a file to an external drive to "back it up," then that copy stays there until otherwise deleted by you.


Other software may or may not delete your backed up copy. Cloning programs will delete the file on the backup if it was deleted on your original hard drive.

If I delete files from my mac will they eventually get deleted from my backup copy? If so how can I prevent that so I can clear space on my mac and keep the copies on the external hard-drive?

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