Never trash TM backups using finder- but what if I did?

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jtroyer2000 Author

Level 1

8 points

Never trash TM backups using finder- but what if I did?

All,

After placing a large number of TM backups into the trash and allowing the trash to empty for hours there was no resulting increase in storage space on the TM drive. After reading the forum I then found out that you should NEVER delete files from a TM drive using the finder. Too late. Already done.

My question now is: What is my next step? Is there a way to fix this issue or do I need to re-format the TM drive and start over?

Thanks!

Time Capsule-OTHER, Mac OS X (10.7.5)

Posted on Feb 17, 2016 10:29 AM

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Answer 1

BDAqua

Level 10

238,997 points

Feb 17, 2016 11:01 AM in response to jtroyer2000

See the last item here,

Deleting backups via the Finder on Lion 10.7.x or later:

http://pondini.org/TM/12.html

Personally I'd start over. 🙂

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Answer 2

Drew Reece

Level 6

10,660 points

Feb 17, 2016 11:07 AM in response to jtroyer2000

Yes, reformat the drive & start over. Use Disk Utiltiy to create a new 'Mac OS Extended (journaled)' partition after erasing it.

Time Machine will purge older backups automatically or you can go into 'Enter Time Machine' & selectively delete older backups via the 'gear' button.

Reformatting the disk is the best way to undo the mess left behind when you use Finder to edit a backup. Reboot if it will not allow the disk to be unmounted, some items may be in use.

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