My storage summary says my backup file is 140.75 TB?!?

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Level 1

9 points

My storage summary says my backup file is 140.75 TB?!?

I have a Macbook mid-2010. About a year ago I installed a new 1 TB hard drive. A few months ago I also had to install a new hard drive cable. I checked my storage today and it says my capacity is a little over 700 GB, but my back-up files take up 140 TB. How is this possible? My capacity is not completely 1 TB because I have a partitioned drive of about 200 GB. I have a screen shot below of what I see when I check my storage:

I am using OS X Yosemite.

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.8)

Posted on May 27, 2015 5:47 PM

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Answer 1

RIFerrarr

Level 4

1,181 points

May 27, 2015 5:49 PM in response to Caryn

When was the last time you backed up using Time Machine?

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Answer 2

Caryn Author

Level 1

9 points

May 27, 2015 5:57 PM in response to RIFerrarr

Last week. I usually back it up every 1 to 2 weeks. Is it just keeping tabs on all my back ups as well?

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Answer 3

May 27, 2015 6:49 PM in response to Caryn

Turn time machine back ups off and then check the storage again. If time machine hasn't completed a backup in a while it does incremental backups and saves them to the local drive until the time machine hard drive has been connected.

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Answer 4

Rysz

Level 8

44,391 points

May 27, 2015 7:03 PM in response to Caryn

140 Terabites? You wish, right?!

If just restarting your MBP doesn't help, you need Spotlight to re-index the drive.

From the Apple () menu, choose System Preferences.
Click Spotlight.
Click the Privacy tab.
Drag a folder or an entire volume (your hard drive) to the list.
If prompted for confirmation, click OK.
Remove the item or volume you just added to the list by clicking it and then clicking the minus ("-") button.
Close Spotlight preferences.

Spotlight will re-index the contents of the folder or volume.

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Answer 5

Caryn Author

Level 1

9 points

Jun 17, 2015 7:14 AM in response to us3r3rr0r

Thanks for the suggestion, but this did not work for me.

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Answer 6

Caryn Author

Level 1

9 points

Jun 17, 2015 7:15 AM in response to Rysz

This worked for me! Thank you. Now it shows everything as other (but with the correct amount of usage), instead of breaking it down by audio, video, etc. Will I be able to get it back to show those certain categories?

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Answer 7

Rysz

Level 8

44,391 points

Jun 18, 2015 11:15 AM in response to Caryn

Try simply restaring your Mac. This might also indicate that Spotlight has not yet finished re-indexing.

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Answer 8

Caryn Author

Level 1

9 points

Jul 2, 2015 5:42 PM in response to Rysz

Strangely, when I restarted it went back to showing by backup file being hundreds of terabytes. I gave up for a week and checked it again and now it is showing up properly. I will keep checking it every few days and make sure it sticks! Thank you for your help.

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Answer 9

Rysz

Level 8

44,391 points

Jul 2, 2015 6:04 PM in response to Caryn

GGlad I was able to help.

I'm not sure I would bother to keep checking this - it's clearly a "book-keeping" issue rather than an actual problem.

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