Can't delete Time Machine backups.

Question

Can't delete Time Machine backups.

Hi. I used Time Machine to backup my laptop (Mavericks OS X 10.9.3) onto an external hard drive. Time Machine created multiple backups over a period of time, and I wanted to delete some of the older ones to free up some space. However, I now have 5 different backups in the trash, and when I attempt to empty the trash (secure empty) the trash window pops up and counts over 200,000 items for deletion, but then disappears and deletes absolutely nothing. Now, the trash is always full when I connect the external drive. I tried to move the backups back onto the external, thinking maybe there were too many files for my Mac to handle, but the computer simply started copying the files instead of transferring them. I don't want to reformat the drive or anything like that because I don't just use it for backups and would lose a TON of other work (music, pics, etc.).

Does anyone know how to get the trash to delete these backups? It's not just that the backups won't delete, but I can't delete ANY other files from the external as long as those backups are in the trash. HELP!

p.s. Oh, and I did try holding the alt/option key while emptying the trash, but that didn't work at all.

Posted on Jun 21, 2014 9:43 PM

Reply

Answer 1

Best reply

Brandon Krieger

Level 1

60 points

Jan 9, 2017 6:11 AM in response to Maximalnomore

I have the problem that was originally mentioned. I am running macOS Sierra and in the Finder Preferences the option to "Secure Empty Trash" is not there.

I am running into this error everytime I try to delete the backup files "The operation can’t be completed because spindump is in use."

My external HDD is partitioned with Time Machine having it's own partition.

How do I resolve this?

Reply

Answer 2

Eric Root

Level 10

684,039 points

Jan 9, 2017 8:42 AM in response to Brandon Krieger

Trash – Empty When File is Locked or in Use

Try holding down the option/alt key while trying to delete the Trash. If that doesn’t work, here is some more information.

Trash FAQ

Trash won’t empty

Reply

Answer 3

Sep 27, 2017 5:04 AM in response to Eric Root

I don't know who you are...but you are a genius. I've been dealing with this for over two years. I kinda forgot about it until I needed to free up space on my iMac. Just holding the option button down while I emptied the trash fixed everything!

Reply

Answer 4

Nov 10, 2017 3:31 PM in response to Maximalnomore

since we are now in Mac OS there is no option for unchecking "secure empty" in system pref and there is no "put back" function. So about 30 different backups are now permanently stuck in the trash... Does anyone have a current solution? I cannot manually move the items back to the external drive... "The operation can’t be completed because one or more required items can’t be found. (Error code -43)"

Reply

Answer 5

Jun 21, 2014 9:52 PM in response to Maximalnomore

You should have the Time Machine backup on either a partitioned external drive or on one by itself (maybe you do, I cannot tell from your post).

Deleting backups is done in Time Machine - one at a time, as I recall.

Barry

Reply

Answer 6

Jun 21, 2014 10:39 PM in response to Barry Hemphill

My external is, unfortunately, not partitioned. I didn't know, before, that deleting backups was done directly in Time Machine, so I threw these backups in the trash directly from the finder. But now they are stuck in the trash. When the external drive is disconnected, my trash is empty, but when I connect it, the trash is full.

Reply

Answer 7

Jun 21, 2014 10:46 PM in response to Maximalnomore

I have never done that so I do not know how to unring the bell.

I would probably copy what you want to save on the external to someplace and then erase and format the external.

Barry

Reply

Answer 8

Jun 21, 2014 10:51 PM in response to Barry Hemphill

I'd have to buy another external then. ...because this is a 1 or 2 TB drive (can't remember which). There's a LOT of stuff on there. Thanks for your advice, Barry.

Reply

Answer 9

tbirdvet

Level 6

13,641 points

Jun 22, 2014 4:36 AM in response to Maximalnomore

Never delete TM backups like you would a normal file. Try the following to clear out trash: Turn off TM then press shift-option-command-delete. Or also try secure delete in finder.

Reply

Answer 10

Eric Root

Level 10

684,039 points

Jun 22, 2014 11:35 AM in response to Maximalnomore

Trash – Can’t Empty or Move File To Trash

Trash – Empty When File is Locked or in Use

Try holding down the option button while trying to delete the Trash. If that doesn’t work, here is some more information.

Trash FAQ

Reply

Answer 11

Aug 19, 2014 9:21 PM in response to tbirdvet

Sorry this is such a late response, but yeah, I figured out not to delete backups this way. Unfortunately, shift-option-command-delete didn't do anything either. So every time I plug the external drive in, the trash shows up with 5 different backups... technically 6, but one is greyed out and when you click on it, it says the creation date was January of 1984 *shrugs* so I don't know what that's about.

Seems like there should be a way to officially delete these. Why would Apple create a system that traps you if you accidentally move a backup to the trash?

Reply

Answer 12

Aug 20, 2014 4:26 AM in response to Maximalnomore

You could try putting them moved items back from the Trash, more recent versions of OS X even have a 'Put Back' command when you right click on the item.

If as advised you want to partition the drive so some space is used for Time Machine and some space is used for other things this may be possible if you have enough spare disk space. If you do you can launch Disk Utility, click on the Disk, click on Partition, and shrink the current partition and then add an additional partition. If you end up getting a new drive then this Apple document tells you how to move the existing Time Machine backup to the new drive Time Machine: How to transfer backups from the current backup drive to a new backup drive

The normal behaviour is that Time Machine will automatically throw away older backups when it is getting low on space.

You should not just drag stuff out of the Time Machine drive to delete them. The Time Machine works by having links between the backups so you might delete stuff you don't expect and don't want deleting from all backups. See this Apple document OS X Mountain Lion: Remove a backed-up item from your backup disk

Reply

Answer 13

Jan 18, 2015 10:06 PM in response to John Lockwood

Just a quick update/FYI. For anyone who may have had this Time Machine trash issue, the key is to NOT "secure empty" the trash. If you have "secure empty" turned on in preferences, under the Finder tab at the top of the screen, there is an option for "Secure Empty Trash". If you click Finder and hold down the control key, the option will switch from "Secure Empty Trash" to just "Empty Trash". If you empty the trash without the secure option, it does it just fine. So that's how this issue is fixed. I can now empty the trash while the external is plugged in (which I couldn't do before) and no other issues have occurred.

Reply

Answer 14

Eric Root

Level 10

684,039 points

Jan 19, 2015 9:40 AM in response to Maximalnomore

Mark your post as solved, it might help others who are looking for answers.

Reply

Answer 15

Feb 7, 2015 10:45 AM in response to Maximalnomore

I did the same exact thing, and your solution is working fine for me! Thank you

Reply