TMO Quick Tip - Time Machine: Deleting Files

by , 7:30 AM EST, November 5th, 2008

Leopard's Time Machine is handy for backing up your important files, but what if you want to delete some to free up extra space on your Time Machine hard drive? No problem: If Time Machine backed up a file, you can delete it with just a couple mouse clicks.

To delete files from your Time Machine backup, do this:

Launch Time Machine. Double-click its icon in your Dock, or choose Enter Time Machine from the Time Machine menu bar item.
Select the file you want to delete from your Time Machine backup by clicking it once.

You can open Time Machine from your Mac's menu bar.

Now choose Delete All Backups of <the item you selected> from the gear button near the top of Time Machine's Finder window. For example, if you were deleting a file named Beeblebrox, you would choose Delete All Backups of Beeblebrox.

You can delete files from your Time Machine backup.

Time Machine will dutifully delete all versions of that file from its backup disk. This is a quick and easy way to clear off space from your Time Machine hard drive and remove old versions of documents that you are certain you won't need to recover later.

Keep in mind that files you delete from your Time Machine backup can't be recovered later, so be sure any files you trash really are safe to get rid of. This trick helped me recover enough space to kick-start Time Machine into backing up my files again after it ran out of space on its hard drive and failed to delete older versions of documents.

Jeff Gamet is TMO's Managing Editor and Reviews Editor. He lectures, teaches and speaks on Mac OS X and design-related topics, and is the author of The Designer's Guide to Mac OS X from Peachpit Press.