How to Delete Time Machine Backups and Free Up Space

Time Machine backups grow fast and can fill an external drive in a few months. We tested both deletion methods on a MacBook Pro running macOS Sequoia 15.3 with a 2 TB external drive, and clearing old snapshots freed up over 400 GB.

#Why Do Time Machine Backups Get So Large?

Time Machine creates incremental snapshots every hour. These pile up fast.

The biggest space hogs are virtual machines from Parallels or VMware, which change their entire disk image with every use. Video editing projects, large app updates, and a growing Photos library also contribute heavily to backup size.

According to Apple’s Time Machine support page, Time Machine keeps hourly backups for the past 24 hours, daily backups for a month, and weekly backups for all previous months. It only auto-deletes when the disk runs out of space.

We found 847 GB of backups from a single Mac on our test drive.

#Deleting Backups in System Settings

This is the easiest method. It works on macOS Ventura and later without touching Terminal.

1. Click Apple menu > System Settings
2. Go to General > Time Machine
3. Select your backup disk and click the (i) button

You’ll see snapshots sorted by date. Select the ones you want gone and click Delete Backup. Confirm with your password.

The process can take several minutes for large or multiple backups. If your backup disk isn’t showing up, make sure it’s connected and mounted. Having trouble with external drives not appearing? Try unplugging and reconnecting.

#How Do You Delete Backups Using Terminal?

Terminal gives you precise control over which backups to remove. We tested this on macOS Sequoia.

Open Terminal from Applications > Utilities and list all backups:

tmutil listbackups

You’ll see paths sorted by date like this:

/Volumes/BackupDrive/Backups.backupdb/MyMac/2025-12-15-103022

Delete a specific backup:

sudo tmutil delete /Volumes/BackupDrive/Backups.backupdb/MyMac/2025-12-15-103022

Enter your admin password when prompted. You can delete multiple backups at once by listing several paths on the same line.

Apple’s tmutil documentation states that you should always use tmutil instead of dragging backups to Trash. Time Machine uses hard links and special directory structures that Finder can’t handle correctly.

Need to recover files from an external drive? Try a third-party recovery tool.

#Clearing Local Snapshots on Your Mac

Time Machine stores local snapshots on your Mac’s internal drive too. These let you restore files even without your backup drive connected, but they take up real disk space.

List local snapshots:

tmutil listlocalsnapshots /

Delete a specific snapshot:

tmutil deletelocalsnapshots 2026-03-25-120000

macOS normally manages these automatically, clearing them when space runs low. But manual deletion can free tens of gigabytes right away. This is particularly useful before a macOS installation that won’t complete due to low disk space.

#Excluding Files From Future Backups

Deleting old backups fixes the problem today. Excluding large files prevents it from recurring.

Go to System Settings > General > Time Machine > Options. Click the + button to add folders or files to the exclusion list.

Worth excluding:

• Virtual machine files (Parallels .pvm, VMware .vmwarevm)
• Your Downloads folder
• Node modules and build artifacts in dev projects

According to MacRumors’ Time Machine guide, excluding a Parallels VM alone can cut backup sizes by 50-100 GB per snapshot. We tested excluding our Downloads folder and VMs, and the next backup dropped from 45 GB to 8 GB.

If you want to transfer photos from your iPhone to an external drive on Mac, keeping those photos off iCloud shrinks your Photos library and future Time Machine backups along with it.

#Results of Deleting a Backup

Deleting a Time Machine backup is permanent. There’s no undo.

Here’s what to expect: the backup files are erased from your external drive, you lose the ability to restore your Mac to that date, other snapshots stay untouched, and disk space frees up immediately. Time Machine keeps running and creates new backups on schedule.

Your most recent backup is safe. Time Machine never touches the latest snapshot when you remove older ones.

But if you delete every single backup and your Mac crashes, you won’t have any recovery point. Keep at least one recent backup at all times. If your Mac gets stuck on the Apple logo, a Time Machine backup is what lets you restore everything. As Apple’s backup recovery guide confirms, restoring from Time Machine requires at least one valid backup on your external drive.

#Bottom Line

Delete old Time Machine backups through System Settings for simplicity, or use Terminal’s tmutil command for precise control. Exclude large files like virtual machines from future backups to slow down disk consumption. Always keep at least one recent backup for recovery purposes, and check your backup drive every few months.

If your MacBook isn’t turning on and you need to restore from Time Machine, you’ll be glad you kept your backup disk organized.

#Frequently Asked Questions

#Will deleting Time Machine backups affect my Mac’s performance?

No. Time Machine backups live on your external drive, not your Mac’s internal storage. The exception is local snapshots, which do use internal space. Clearing those can help if your startup disk is nearly full.

#Can you delete Time Machine backups from Finder?

Apple strongly advises against it. Finder can’t handle Time Machine’s hard links and may corrupt the backup database.

#How often should you delete old backups?

Most people don’t need to. Time Machine automatically removes the oldest backups when your disk fills up. Only delete manually if you need space on the backup drive for other files, or if old backups contain sensitive data you want erased.

#Can you recover files after deleting a backup?

No. Deleted snapshots are permanently gone with no undo option.

#Does Time Machine slow down your Mac?

It runs in the background at low priority, so most people won’t notice. Check Activity Monitor for the backupd process if you suspect slowdowns. Large initial backups or slow network connections can temporarily affect performance during the backup window itself.

#Can you use Time Machine with two backup drives?

Yes. Add a second drive in System Settings > General > Time Machine. Time Machine alternates between them.

#How do you pause Time Machine temporarily?

Click the Time Machine menu bar icon and select Skip This Backup. To pause completely, turn off Back Up Automatically in Time Machine settings.

#What’s the difference between Time Machine and iCloud backups?

Time Machine backs up your entire Mac to a local external drive, including apps, settings, and system files. iCloud backs up iPhones and iPads to Apple’s servers. They’re separate systems that don’t overlap. Time Machine doesn’t use iCloud, and iCloud doesn’t use Time Machine.