HT201250: Use Time Machine to back up or restore your Mac

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chrisdani2015

Q: Can I use Time Machine as a source to save old files & delete those files from my laptop?

I have Time Machine on an external hard drive to back up my files. I recently received a notice that my Macbook computer startup disk is almost full. Can I save specific files (old photos, old word docs, etc) to Time Machine and delete from my laptop? I want to access them in the future, but just delete them from my computer.

Posted on Dec 18, 2015 5:09 AM

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Q: Can I use Time Machine as a source to save old files & delete those files from my laptop?

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  • by Bob Timmons,

    Bob Timmons Bob Timmons Dec 18, 2015 6:45 AM in response to chrisdani2015
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    Dec 18, 2015 6:45 AM in response to chrisdani2015

    Can I use Time Machine as a source to save old files  & delete those files from my laptop?

    Time Machine backs up the changes on your Mac, so at some point......you cannot know when.....Time Machine will pick up the change on your Mac and delete the files from the backups. You will not know when this might occur.

     

    If there is plenty of space on the backup drive, it may be months before the files are deleted....but there are also reports from users that files have been deleted within only a few days.

     

    So, if you decide to delete files from your Mac, it would be good idea to only do this with data that you can afford to lose.