Deleting backed up files

I left some stuff on my desktop that was accidentally backed up on my latest time machine backup. This was about 30 GBs of stuff I didn't want backed up now wasting space on my external. Anyway I can go in and just delete those files? How about any older files for that matter? Thanks

You must delete them using the Time Machine application. Do not attempt to remove them manually from your backup which could prove a disaster.
Read User Tips for Time Machine.

Similar Messages

  • How to recover deleted back-up file(s) from iTunes?

    I'm needing to figure out a way to recover back-up files that iTunes removed during the recent install to the update 11.0.1.
    I went to back up my phone manually. (Which I've been doing for years) I've never used or enabled auto-sync. Before I start a back-up I re-name my phone in a format like this "iPhone0913" This is to eliminate any confusion. That iTunes might try to interpet as, a duplication of another back-up file. By it having the same name (Which I know it won't but I do it anyway) Before the installation of the new update. I had 8 back-up files all dated and in order with the name designation that I've proivded. For example: 1. iPhone0105 2, iPhone1106 etc. as the numeric designation is for the month and year. So Oct. 2005 was my oldest back up file.
    Once the installation/update took place, I plugged my phone in and clicked on back-up to this computer. All was moving along as it should, since this was only a back-up. Not a back-up and restore!! At any rate, I went through iTunes to verify that the back-up was there. (As I always do) And low and behold.. GONE!!
    The only back up that was showing, was the back-up of "iPhone0913"  I did'nt go into panic mode at that point. Thinking that maybe iTunes moved or maybe archive the back-ups. I was trying to remain optimistic, but I knew there was'nt much that could be down. But maybe, I'm missing something.. I was able to locate 4 of 8 back up files. Only because I had backed them up from another drive.
    I don't have Windows System Restore, enabled, So I was'nt able to recover that way. I'm still beside myself that this even took place.
    At this point, I'm looking for any recommendations, sympathy.
    Thanks in Advance for your help and support!

    Get Back and recover Iphone Lost Contacts,Messages,Photos from iOS devices iPhone, iPad, iPod
    You can use a iPhone Files recovery tool to recover all iphone data,it is the an all-in-one iPhone/iPad/iPod Data Recovery software for personal users that can recover data directly from iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch, including contacts, photos, videos, SMS, iMessages, call history, notes, reminders, voice memos, etc., as well as recover data from iTunes backup file.
    There are 2 solutions to recover recover iphone ipad ipod lost dat--recover iphone SMS messages,Contacts,Photos,Videos,App,calendar, notes, call history and more.
    1.Recover data from iOS Device
    Scan iOS device directly to find data deleted recently,or data lost due to inaccessible iOS,download the right version for your iPhone 4 (GSM & CDMA), iPhone 3GS, iPad 1 or iPod touch 4.
    2.Recover from iTunes Backup File
    Scan iTunes backup files if you deleted data for a long time,failed to recover from iOS device directly,or lost iOS device,Recover data for any iOS device like iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, etc.By extracting the previous iTunes backup with any version of the software. It supports the newest iOS 6 when you use this recovery mode!

  • How to delete backed up files from Time Capsule in Lion.

    Since I upgraded to Lion I have been unable to delete old backed up items in Time Machine. I use Time Capsule and previously with Snow Leopard I could right click on a file and choose to delete all copies of the file. The option to do that is no longer available. Is there a setting I'm missing here? Thanks.

    You cannot delete items from Local backups (the white "tick marks").  See #30 in Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions.

  • Storing and deleting time capsule files

    After reviewing a number of posts it seems partitioning the time capsule is very difficult at best. If I am using it to back up my computer and wanting to save other files to it, what happens when the disk reaches capacity? Can you delete backup files to make room for other files or will that corrupt the retrieval?

    Time Capsule is not intended for partitioning by Apple. If you need additional storage space, an additional HDD is best. However, you can delete back up files, but only do this via the Time Machine interface. Deleting files via Finder is asking for trouble.

  • Hi Friends... I'm trying to delete a back-up file on mu TC but I get the message "The operation could not be completed because the item "bands" is in use. I'd like to start the Back from scratch, could help me out with deleting the current file?

    Hi Friends...
    I’m trying to delete a back-up file on mu TC but I get the message “The operation could not be completed because the item “bands” is in use. I’d like to start the Back from scratch, could help me out with deleting the current file?

    Sorry, I am very confused. I asked the following question....
    Is this the only backup file on your Mac, or do you have other backup files and data on the Time Capsule disk?
    The answer that you gave was....
    This is the only one
    Now you are saying that....
    But I have lots of other files on Time Capsule! The back up file is only one of them.
    Can you clarify, please?

  • My itunes files were deleted. I was able to use an old back up file to restore some but new downloaded purchases from iTunes for the past 5 months weren't in the back up. How do I get those back since I've paid for them one before and use the same account

    My itunes files were deleted. I was able to use an old back up file to restore some but new downloaded purchases from iTunes for the past 5 months weren't in the back up. How do I get those back since I've paid for them one before? Can you redownload? If so, how?? Please help as I'm missing over 500 previously paid for and downloaded iTunes song purchases.

    This was EXACTLY what I needed about the purchases I made from my device. However, is there a way to re-download other ones you've made from a computer? Because I realized some of them were not just purchased from my device.
    This is a picture of what it looks like now:
    http://tinypic.com/r/107quxu/7
    As you can see, the stuff circled in red doesn't give me an option to download from Cloud Beta because it already says "downloaded".
    any way to get around that?

  • I need some help to create more space on my hard drive-what can I delete?  I have my external G-DRIVE connected as a back up, so i think I'm duplicating a lot of back up files, mostly photos through Lightroom on my Mac HD. Only 9GB left out of 297GB...

    Have never had to retrieve backed up files so I think I'm just chicken to delete files on my Mac.  Is everything on my back up if I need it?  Even photos that have been processed in Lightroom?  Could I delete all older photo folders from my Mac and still get them from external drive if I needed them down the road?  I have run a GrandPerspective scan and it appears most of my disk space is used for photo files and back-ups...probably have 30,000-40,000 photos.  Thanks!

    Look at getting Onyx, as you have alot of photo's, and so do I. Onyx will help clear somethings from you Mac, all you have to do is run Automation, and or Cleaning. Is that 30,000-40,000 Photo's Duplicates? if so, you might want to delete as many as the those duplicates as possible. i see you use Lightroom, are you useing that to import your images or are you useing something else like Iphoto, or just importing them to your mac. if you are using something else to import your photo's and then reimporting them, this might create duplicates of images. also sometimes when you delete images you dont want, they might not be acctually deleted. so clear you Trash, and run onyx to help clear these things up.
    I know there are a few different programs out there that will help clrear out duplicates of items, and help you reduce space.
    Duplicate-Annihilator Looks for images in Iphoto that are the same, and allows you to change them or delete them.
    http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/18748/duplicate-annihilator
    TidyUp ($$) Will look for Music, Pictures Documents, or any duplicates.
    http://www.hyperbolicsoftware.com/TidyUp.html
    Hope This Helps you.

  • TS4036 how can I view backed up files and delete things I don't need

    how do I view backed up files and delete thing I don't need

    You can't view individual files contained in the backup.  You can control which apps are backed up, and whether or not the camera roll is included in the backup, by going to Settings>iCloud>Storage & Backup>Manage Storage, tapping the name of your device under Backups, then looking under Backup Options.

  • Time Machine Duplicates and How to Delete a Single Copy of Backed Up File ?

    Here is the puzzle pieces , then the questions I'm asking
    Example - my iPhoto Library file (its 36 gigs and yes I do create separate libraries)
    If you add a single photo - Time Machine rightly sees a changed file and backs it up
    Now I have Multiple Back ups of this large file
    I want to delete only single back-up of this iPhoto file, NOT all instances of it
    Here is the dilemma that I am having
    according to a previous post
    How to delete a Time Machine-backed up file on an external HD
    http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=8799363&#8799363
    you have to
    1 - Have a finder window open
    2 - launch Time Machine
    3 - find the file you want to delete in the finder window
    4 - go to the Gear Icon in the finder window
    5 - Pull down menu for
    6 - drum roll please! 'delete all backups of <filename>
    Well I DO NOT WANT TO DELETE ALL BACKUPS!!!!!!
    I want to keep some of the back ups of that iPhoto file - not all of them
    I want to manage my files individually, and delete those and only those necessary
    I can only hope there is a simple and easy solution,
    If someone could just point me in that direction I would greatly appreciate it
    Cheers , Don

    donaldo777 wrote:
    I want to manage files individually because:
    I am running out of HD space
    I want to have some measure of control of my backed up files
    You'll find that rather difficult -- TM was specifically designed to manage space and backups automatically, as most users won't, or don't have the patience.
    If it's only your photos you want to do this way, you might consider excluding them from TM and using a different app that will do traditional archive backups. CarbonCopyCloner and SuperDuper, for example, are mostly used to make bootable "clones" of your whole system (I use CCC for that in addition to TM). But both of them (and others) can also be used to back up only specific files/folders, and, optionally, retain archive copies of changed items. Just how that works, I can't tell you, but for details see their documentation (Google or VersionTracker).
    CCC is donationware, SD has a free version, but I think you'd need the paid one, about $30.
    Thanks for your response, and I have a question, when you say be careful of deleting thru the finder
    because TM will get cranky - Do you mean TM gets 'confused' where is the location of its back-ups
    when TM scans backward in TIme?
    No, it's apparently got to do with the way it manages it's actual files vs. hard links (sort of like aliases), and picking one hourly backup to be the daily, then one daily to be a weekly. It seems to require some shuffling around. I don't know the details (not publicly available, I think).
    Eventually, I don't care of TM gets cranky as long as I can access my data and still reach my original goal
    You will care when it gets so cranky it stops backing-up, or you can't find what you want to restore.
    I want to have control of my files, they are huge in size and number and eventually
    Even Terabit drives are filling up on me.
    Then as mentioned, you may need different strategies, and perhaps different apps, for different types of data. Such complex strategies are actually quite common in medium to large data centers, but again, TM was designed mostly for not-so-savvy home users.

  • I have backed up my disk using Time Machine.  Now I want to delete the backed-up files from my hard drive.  But when I do and reconnect the external hard drive, the files are also deleted on that.  What do I do?

    I have backed up my disk using Time Machine.  I then deleted the back-up files from my MacBook hard drive.
    I then reconnected my external hard drive and find the files I deleted from my hard drive are also deleted from
    my external hard drive.  Can someone tell my what what happened?  I'm confused.

    Hello,
    Time Machine is not a good way to do that, when it eventually needs more room it deletes old Backups to make room.
    If you really want to keep Files but remove them from the Internal Drive, then I'd get another external drive to copy or clone them to that is not used for TM.

  • HT4914 Once I deleted my music files can I get them back via I cloud? I have Itunes match on.

    Once I deleted my music files can I get them back via I cloud? I have Itunes match on.

    I actually deleted my backup :-) That's the problem. But thanks.
    I've managed to get some back but via a slightly different method.
    Because the files weren't there, when I deleted them from my library they actually disappeared from the list.... So I created a new library (backed up my original one) and then synched that with Match so that all the files appeared. I'm just going through the ones I'm missing clicking 'download' and then when they're all back on my hard drive I'll revert to the previous Library which will hopefully pick up all of the recovered files.
    Bingo!

  • Deleting Time Machine Back-up Files - HELP!

    I tried to delete a time machine back-up file from my external drive (to clear space), I dragged it into the trash ... when I tried to empty trash it looked like there were 1000s of files being deleted. That scared me so I stopped the trash from emptying. Now I can't get the file out of the trash. I try to drag it out and it just copies. So two questions: 1) how do I get this file out of the trash? 2) how do I delete all of these back-up files - well, I don't need to delete all of them but there are so many? Do I really need all of these time machine back-ups? If I do delete them - what am I actually deleting? Are they just copies of my harddrive or is it a problem to delete them (when I look in the file that is in my trash it seems like it is my whole system ...). Sorry for all of the questions but I am in a bit of a panic. Also, I did try to delete the files by going into time machine, clicking on the gear icon, selecting a file and clicking on delete, nothing happened. Any thoughts, suggestions, advice most welcome!

    wcaroliner wrote:
    So two questions: 1) how do I get this file out of the trash?
    See #E6 in [Time Machine - Troubleshooting|http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/Troubleshooting.html] (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum).
    2) how do I delete all of these back-up files - well, I don't need to delete all of them but there are so many? Do I really need all of these time machine back-ups? If I do delete them - what am I actually deleting? Are they just copies of my harddrive or is it a problem to delete them (when I look in the file that is in my trash it seems like it is my whole system
    You shouldn't have to delete old backups. Time Machine will do that automatically when it needs space for new ones, unless you have the +Warn when old backups are deleted+ box checked in +Time Machine Preferences > Options.+ Just remove the check.
    If you have other data on your Time Machine drive, in the same partition, that's not a good idea. It needs to be moved elsewhere, so Time Machine has it's own, exclusive space. See #3 in [Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions|http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/FAQ.html] (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum).
    The backups have a complex and somewhat unusual structure; there's a bit of "smoke and mirrors" going on there, where it appears that every backup is a full copy of your system, and it is, in a way, but isn't in another. Seems contradictory, I know. See [How Time Machine works its Magic|http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/Works.html] for an explanation.
    I did try to delete the files by going into time machine, clicking on the gear icon, selecting a file and clicking on delete, nothing happened.
    You should have gotten a confirmation prompt, then one for your Admin password. If you didn't, the backups may be damaged/corrupted. Repair them, per #A5 in Troubleshooting.

  • I have moved old Back Up files from my external hard drive to the trash and as the Trash previews the files, i.e. counts them (over 850,000 files) it then begins to delete but then stops. Is it possible to move the files out of the Trash file and then onl

    I have moved old Back Up files from my external hard drive to the trash and as the Trash previews the files, i.e. counts them (over 850,000 files) it then begins to delete but then stops. Is it possible to move the files out of the Trash file and then only delete a small amount at one time?

    See
    Deleting backups via the Finder on Lion 10.7.x or later:
    http://pondini.org/TM/12.html
    Hold option (alt) while emptying the Trash.
    See also
    http://pondini.org/TM/E6.html
    Message was edited by: WZZZ

  • I deleted my back up files from my external hard drive and my trash won't empty. I get an error code -22. Can anyone tell me how to fix this?

    I deleted my back up files from my external hard drive and my trash won't empty. I get an error code -22. Can anyone tell me how to fix this?

    JLCruz wrote:
    I deleted my back up files from my external hard drive ...
    If this is related to Time Machine Backups...
    See here  >  Should I delete old backups?  If so, How?
    From Here  >  http://pondini.org/TM/FAQ.html
    If the TRASH still won’t Empty...
    See Here  >  http://pondini.org/TM/E6.html

  • Help!! working on a movie on Imovie. I had to delete a music file from a clip section and now there are some clips that have no audio!!! don't know how to get the audio back to my clips!!!! Help!!!

    Help!! working on a movie on Imovie. I had to delete a music file from a clip section and now there are some clips that have no audio!!! don't know how to get the audio back to my clips!!!! Help!!!

    You can use some third party software to copy the music from your old iPod back to computer first, and then import the music into iTunes and re-sync them to yournew iPod. Here is a guide about how to transfer iPod music to computer. Hope it helps. Feel free to email me if you need further help.

Maybe you are looking for