Time MAchine won't back up due to not enough space, but there is

TIme Machine won't back up. Displays this:
Actual capacity of the external backup drive is 999.68 GB and available is 135 gb .
The imac internal HD capacity is 999.01GB and used space is 636.321 GB.
This problem has occured periodically in the last 12 months or so, so prior to OS version10.8 install in Jul 2012.
I previously called AppleCare, as I have a contract, and tech said I just need to reformat the external drive and start over.
I did that the last time this happened a few months ago, but I don't like that option, as it eliminates all the prior backups,
What if I needed to try to recover something I deleted 3 weeks ago, for example. I couldn't do so as all backups would have been deleted, of course, by me having refomatted the drive and basically starting over. Also, I noted in another post about a person having a problem due to using a partitioned drive. Mine is not partition, as far as I can tell. See this:
Any ideas? Thanks

The solution is essentially "simple." You need a larger hard drive for these backups or you need to use a different backup solution. By this I mean using backup software that does not preserve an archive of old copies of a file, but simply erases old copies in order to replace them with the new copies. By replacing your backup drive can always accommodate the drive it backs up if it is large enough - say the same size. I can suggest:
Backup Software Recommendations
Carbon Copy Cloner
Data Backup
Deja Vu
SuperDuper!
Synk Pro
Tri-Backup
Others may be found at VersionTracker or MacUpdate.
Visit The XLab FAQs and read the FAQ on backup and restore. Also read How to Back Up and Restore Your Files.
All of the above are capable of being scheduled. Synk Pro makes immediate backups of any changed file on the hard drive. You may configure it to archive changes (like Time Machine) or to delete prior copies.

Similar Messages

Time Machine won't back up due to a full backup disk.

Recently Time Machine has been saying the backup disk is full and therefore it can't complete the backup.
I have two questions:
A) Time Machine is supposed to delete old backups to clear space. Why isn't it?
B) What is the proper way to delete some or all of the backups for a computer? I ask because of a long and complicated issue that caused me to not have one computer backed up, so the other computer took up so much space that now there's not enough room for the other computer to perform an initial backup.

The solution is essentially "simple." You need a larger hard drive for these backups or you need to use a different backup solution. By this I mean using backup software that does not preserve an archive of old copies of a file, but simply erases old copies in order to replace them with the new copies. By replacing your backup drive can always accommodate the drive it backs up if it is large enough - say the same size. I can suggest:
Backup Software Recommendations
Carbon Copy Cloner
Data Backup
Deja Vu
SuperDuper!
Synk Pro
Tri-Backup
Others may be found at VersionTracker or MacUpdate.
Visit The XLab FAQs and read the FAQ on backup and restore. Also read How to Back Up and Restore Your Files.
All of the above are capable of being scheduled. Synk Pro makes immediate backups of any changed file on the hard drive. You may configure it to archive changes (like Time Machine) or to delete prior copies.

Time machine stopped backing up due to not enough space. What to do?

On my MacBook time machine stopped backing up and the message said not enough space . What can I do?

Broadly speaking you can supply more space.. or delete the old backups to regain existing space.
You have posted in the TIme Capsule area.. but I am not sure if that is what you are using as people mix up Time Capsule (TC) and Time Machine (TM) on a regular basis. TC is hardware router with a disk in it for backups to be stored.. TM is the software on the Mac that does backups.
So TC is not exactly flexible.. but you can add a USB hard disk to it.
This is not always a great idea.. but can work for people using wireless which is slower even than USB.
The internal disk of the TC can be upgraded.. only do this if you accept the risk and most likely it is no longer under warranty.
You can buy a TC with a bigger hard disk and sell off the old one.. except you might already have 3TB one in which case you will need to run two.
You can use a local drive instead of a network drive.
So buy a USB drive and plug it into your computer.. this is a good solution for desktops.. less great for laptops which are carried around as you forget to backup.
OR
Wipe the current backups and start anew.. You can also archive the old backups wipe the existing disk and start over.
Tell us which you prefer and if it is more difficult than go and buy a new disk and plug it in tell us.

TIME MACHINE won't back up as not enough space but there is? HELP!

My time machine was backing up fine and with everything being backed up was filling to about 360gb I backed it up last 5 days ago before it went in for a repair at the apple store (spotlight was not working properly) now I have the machine back and have just put some new photos on so plugged back in the time machine to carry on with backups but it won't back up as it saying it needs 380GB of space and I only have available 144 GB.
The only thing I can see different is that the store has put a macintosh HD icon on my desktop, I am wondering if perhaps it is also trying to back up the time machine, as in theory I have only added another 1-2GB data since my backup before going into the store.
Can anyone help me I can' seem to find anything that says I am backing up the G-Drive Slim (Time machine) as well or can I delete the whole contents of the Time Machine and start again?

If your MacBook is brand new please update your User Profile to reflect your current devices/OS.
Disks you can use with Time Machine
Time Machine Server Requirements
http://manuals.info.apple.com/en/TimeCapsule_SetupGuide.pdf
Pondini's Time Machine FAQ
You aren't using Time Machine correctly if you are trying to send it to your dektop.

Time Machine claims not enough space, but there's plenty

Hello --
I'm having a problem with my Time Machine backup ever since upgrading to Yosemite. After the initial backup, I get these errors: "The backup disk needs 838.03 GB for the backup but only 712.05 GB are available. Select a larger backup disk or make the backup smaller by excluding files."
However, there is plenty of space. The initial backup took up about 898 GB of my 1.61 TB machine. Subsequent incremental backups should only take up a fraction — and I'm confident that I haven't added hundreds of gigabytes of new data to my disk. However, each time Time Machine tries to run its backup, I get the same error.
Time Machine is backing up both my small internal hard drive (128 GB) and the rest of the backup comes from an external drive. It worked fine under Mavericks, but under Yosemite it seems that Time Machine doesn't realize that the hundreds of gigabytes on the external drive has already been backed up before and doesn't all need to be backed up again.
Any thoughts? I had a backup that was several months old earlier; once I started getting this error, I wiped that backup thinking that a fresh backup might sole the error. No such luck.
I'm running Yosemite 10.10.0 on a mid-2011 MacBook Air, backing up to a Sinology NAS. (My wife who is still using Mavericks is continuing to successfully backup to the same drive.)
Thanks everyone!
- geoff

I have the exact same problem with almost the same setup: MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Late 2012) running Yosemite 10.10, an external harddrive and a Time Capsule 2 TB (4th Generation, Version 7.6.4). I even took the same actions as geoff2 (deleting the complete set of backups from Mavericks and making a new complete backup on Yosemite). On my internal harddrive 270 GB are occupied, on my external harddrive around 980 GB are occupied and the MacBook of my girlfriend is also backed up to the Time Capsule. At the moment around 646 GB are available on the Time Capsule.
Now I get the same error message saying, that 977 GB are needed for a backup but only 650 GB are available. Interestingly backups without the external drive connected will complete without any problems.
The external drive has a "GUID Partition Table". So it seems both of Linc Davis suggestions don't apply to the problem (we both have either GUID Partition Table or Logical Volume Group and the issue appears both on a NAS-Storage and on a Time Capsule).
Looking for additional information I looked into the console and found the following report: "Inheritance scan may be required for '/Volumes/Dolphin', associated with previous UUID: BA36E38E-71F9-39E1-BF72-36AF9D4BB45F". "Dolphin" is the name of the external drive. What does that mean? Is it of any relevance? For more information I will post all the reports concerning the backup below (it's mainly about trying to free more space on the TC by deleting old backups). "Yosemite" is my internal OS X Volume, "Hamster" is the name of the Volume on the TC, "Nifty" is a Nifty mini drive in the SD-Card-Slot.
I already verified the backups using the Option-Click on the menu bar symbol and I deleted and rebuilt the Spotlight index but it changed nothing. We could of course delete the backup volume (NAS or TC) and start a new backup, but I have a feeling, that the issue will appear again afterwards. Any other suggestions?
08.11.14 16:46:06,033 com.apple.backupd[4227]: Starting manual backup
08.11.14 16:46:06,071 com.apple.backupd[4227]: Network destination already mounted at: /Volumes/Hamster
08.11.14 16:46:11,000 kernel[0]: hfs: mounted Time Machine-Backups on device disk6s2
08.11.14 16:46:13,146 com.apple.backupd[4227]: Disk image /Volumes/Hamster/Nikos MacBook Pro 13" (2).sparsebundle mounted at: /Volumes/Time Machine-Backups
08.11.14 16:46:14,908 com.apple.backupd[4227]: Backing up to /dev/disk6s2: /Volumes/Time Machine-Backups/Backups.backupdb
08.11.14 16:46:19,914 com.apple.backupd[4227]: Inheritance scan may be required for '/Volumes/Dolphin', associated with previous UUID: BA36E38E-71F9-39E1-BF72-36AF9D4BB45F
08.11.14 16:46:27,375 com.apple.backupd[4227]: Will copy (10 MB) from Yosemite
08.11.14 16:46:32,745 com.apple.backupd[4227]: Will copy (0 KB) from Dolphin
08.11.14 16:46:32,748 com.apple.backupd[4227]: Will copy (0 KB) from Nifty
08.11.14 16:46:32,749 com.apple.backupd[4227]: Found 137158 files (954.27 GB) needing backup
08.11.14 16:46:32,752 com.apple.backupd[4227]: 977.06 GB required (including padding), 646.65 GB available
08.11.14 16:46:32,765 com.apple.backupd[4227]: Deleted backup /Volumes/Time Machine-Backups/Backups.backupdb/Nikos MacBook Pro 13" (2)/2014-11-08-164619.inProgress/B65EE357-083D-4E0B-900B-42910289B9C4 containing 4 KB; 646.65 GB now available, 977.06 GB required
08.11.14 16:46:32,767 com.apple.backupd[4227]: Removed 1 expired backups so far, more space is needed - deleting oldest backups to make room
08.11.14 16:49:20,472 com.apple.backupd[4227]: Deleted backup /Volumes/Time Machine-Backups/Backups.backupdb/Nikos MacBook Pro 13" (2)/2014-11-07-111400 containing 627.9 MB; 647.28 GB now available, 977.06 GB required
08.11.14 16:49:20,472 com.apple.backupd[4227]: Removed 2 expired backups so far, more space is needed - deleting oldest backups to make room
08.11.14 16:50:12,817 com.apple.backupd[4227]: Deleted backup /Volumes/Time Machine-Backups/Backups.backupdb/Nikos MacBook Pro 13" (2)/2014-11-07-171215 containing 59.4 MB; 647.34 GB now available, 977.06 GB required
08.11.14 16:50:12,818 com.apple.backupd[4227]: Removed 3 expired backups so far, more space is needed - deleting oldest backups to make room
08.11.14 16:50:48,156 com.apple.backupd[4227]: Deleted backup /Volumes/Time Machine-Backups/Backups.backupdb/Nikos MacBook Pro 13" (2)/2014-11-07-183323 containing 42.4 MB; 647.38 GB now available, 977.06 GB required
08.11.14 16:50:48,156 com.apple.backupd[4227]: Removed 4 expired backups so far, more space is needed - deleting oldest backups to make room
08.11.14 16:51:07,147 com.apple.backupd[4227]: Deleted backup /Volumes/Time Machine-Backups/Backups.backupdb/Nikos MacBook Pro 13" (2)/2014-11-08-112446 containing 25.3 MB; 647.41 GB now available, 977.06 GB required
08.11.14 16:51:07,147 com.apple.backupd[4227]: Removed 5 expired backups so far, more space is needed - deleting oldest backups to make room
08.11.14 16:51:28,134 com.apple.backupd[4227]: Deleted backup /Volumes/Time Machine-Backups/Backups.backupdb/Nikos MacBook Pro 13" (2)/2014-11-08-132002 containing 11.5 MB; 647.42 GB now available, 977.06 GB required
08.11.14 16:51:28,134 com.apple.backupd[4227]: Removed 6 expired backups so far, more space is needed - deleting oldest backups to make room
08.11.14 16:51:28,135 com.apple.backupd[4227]: Deleted 6 backups containing 766.6 MB total; 647.42 GB now available, 977.06 GB required
08.11.14 16:51:28,136 com.apple.backupd[4227]: Backup date range was shortened: oldest backup is now Nov 8, 2014
08.11.14 16:51:29,353 com.apple.backupd[4227]: Backup failed with error 7: Not enough available disk space on the target volume.
08.11.14 16:51:36,000 kernel[0]: hfs: unmount initiated on Time Machine-Backups on device disk6s2
08.11.14 16:51:37,508 com.apple.backupd[4227]: Ejected Time Machine disk image: /Volumes/Hamster/Nikos MacBook Pro 13" (2).sparsebundle
08.11.14 16:51:38,227 com.apple.backupd[4227]: Ejected Time Machine network volume.
08.11.14 16:53:43,804 SystemUIServer[431]: Attempt to use XPC with a MachService that has HideUntilCheckIn set. This will result in unpredictable behavior: com.apple.backupd.status.xpc
08.11.14 16:53:43,806 com.apple.prefs.backup.remoteservice[529]: Attempt to use XPC with a MachService that has HideUntilCheckIn set. This will result in unpredictable behavior: com.apple.backupd.status.xpc

Cannot restore from Time Machine... "not enough space" but there is

I am trying to restore a 140GB file from Time Machine. I can see it both through the Time Machine interface and by going through Finder.
I have 202GB free on my Mac hard drive. Whenever I try to restore the file, or copy it through Finder, I get "Preparing to Copy" for a while and then "The item can't be copied because there isn't enough free space".
No idea how to resolve this - any ideas?

Gosh, I was not expecting that and nothing mentioned in iCreate or MacFormat tuition articles. My task is to move and partition data from my external hard drives, so that I can create partitions to hold various storage for BOOTCAMP to use.
Looks like my external drives are not capable of the task!

Time Machine won't back up after system restore

I just restored my system after a failure, and now Time Machine won't back up my hard drive. It gets about 40 out of 90 Gigabytes done, and then gives me an error message that just says that there was an error while backing up, and doesn't give any other information. I ran a Verify Disk with Disk Utility, and there is nothing wrong with the backup drive, and there is more than 200 Gigabytes of space left on that drive.
Thank You.

zhoffmanster wrote:
Ok, so here's the thing: I tried backing up again today, and it worked just fine. Before, what would happen is a message would pop saying "an error has occurred during backup" (or something close to that). The point is, the message didn't give any detail.
No, the point is, you seem to have ignored this:
See the Time Machine - Troubleshooting post at the top of this forum.

Time Machine won't back up external drive to Time Capsule

I recently got a Time Capsule, and successfully set it up to back up my iMac's primary drive, but for some reason Time Machine won't back up my external drive to the Time Capsule.
I removed the external drive from the exclusion list in System Preferences > Time Machine > Options, and from what I've read this should be sufficient to make Time Machine back up the drive.
The external drive is connected to my iMac via Thunderbolt > Thunderbolt-to-Firewire adaptor > Firewire 800 input, and the Time Capsule is connected via Ethernet to my LAN.
Since I'm using Ethernet, I've disabled Wi-Fi on the Time Capusule by going to AirPort Utility > My Time Capsule > Edit > Wireless > Network Mode > Off.
The reason I believe the external drive is not being backed up is because when I click the Time Machine icon in the upper-right status bar and choose "Enter Time Machine", none of the folders on external drive show any older versions.
Furthermore, when I click Finder > Time Machine Backups > Backups.backupdb, I can see only one sub-folder which has the name of my iMac's primary drive. I can't see any equivalent folder for my external drive.
Any idea what I'm doing wrong?

I don't see anything you have done wrong.. perhaps it does backup in a different way.
Load the widget.. A1 here... http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html
That will allow you to track the log of TM to see what it is doing.
I would also try rebooting the computer.. exclude the drive again.. reboot.. and remove the exclusion.
You should be able to check the actual settings of TM in plist file.
And you can do a full reset of TM as well.. See A4. Check what is in the file. Pondini lists the location for you.
Nothing surprises me with Mountain Lion ...!!

My Time machine won't back up. Recently updated to OS x 10.7.5. Error message is as follows: "The backup disk image "/Volumes/Time Machine Backup/Scott's MacBook Pro.sparsebundle" is already in use." What is wrong and how do I fix it? Thanks.

My Time machine won't back up. Recently updated to OS x 10.7.5. Error message is as follows: "The backup disk image “/Volumes/Time Machine Backup/Scott’s MacBook Pro.sparsebundle” is already in use." What is wrong and how do I fix it? Thanks.

Have you tried restarting the computer? Also, see Time Machine Error from this pages sidebar under More Like This.

After installing Mountain Lion, my Time Machine won't back up ... says the sparsebundle is in use

After installing Mountain Lion, my Time Machine won't back up ... says the sparsebundle is in use

Standard problem in ML.. apple do not seem to want to recognise.
Reboot the TC .. if that fails restart the whole network in correct order.. modem.. router/TC... clients.. with 2min gap.
There are other suggestions like changing the password.. all they do is the same as reboot.
Read C12.. most quoted Q in pondini website history. This is asked 10 times a day.
http://pondini.org/TM/FAQ.html
Here is another way to get a useful utility in ML.. rather than toyland version.
How to load 5.6 into ML.
1. Download 5.6 for Lion.
http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1482
Click to open the dmg but do not attempt to install the pkg.. it won't work anyway.
2. Download and install unpkg.
http://www.timdoug.com/unpkg/
Run unpkg on the desktop.. it is very simple.. drag the AirPortUtility56.pkg file over to unpkg.. and it will create a new directory of the same name on the desktop.. drill down.. applications utilities .. there lo and behold is Airport utility 5.6 .. drag it to your main utilities directory or just run it from current location.
You cannot uninstall 6.1 so don't try.. and you cannot or should not run them both at the same time.. so just ignore the toyland version.. the plastic hammer.. and start using 5.6.. a real tool.

Time machine won't back up anymore after it failed? HELP!!

Hey all,
My time machine used to back up to my hard drive fine, but after it had a fault half way through a back up, i think the cable was disconnected it won't back up or start a back up again. I've looked at the help and it actually has my hard drive in the "Don't back up" section, when i select it to remove it from that it won't let me remove it.....
Really need to back up and no idea how to get this done...
HELP

Open up Disk Utility and Verify your external had drive. It sounds as though there could be some damage from when it was unplugged in the middle of writing, which is preventing Time Machine from working properly.
Try to get Disk Utility to repair the drive if it finds any errors.
If this does not work the most likely thing is that the Disk Image being written to by Time Machine is perpetually locked. In that case, it might be worth deleting the back-ups (since they are unusable now anyway) and starting a new time machine backup from scratch.

Time Machine won't back up onto Time Capsule

I upgraded to Mountain Lion last week, and Time Machine won't back up to my Time Capsule. When it fails, I get the message:
Time Machine couldn't complete the backup to "Tom's Time Capsule".
The backup disk image "/Volumes/Data/TomsMac.sparsebundle" could not be created (error 60)
I sometimes get the same message, but with "error 17"
I also get the following error message popup (even though the disk is the one in my Time Capsule):
The disk you inserted was not readable by this computer.
The popup offers three choices: Initialize, Ignore, Eject.
My local Apple Store Genius concluded that the problem must be with the Time Capsule, so I bought a new one. That didn't fix the problem.
Time Machine Buddy messages:
Starting manual backup
Attempting to mount network destination URL: afp://Tom%[email protected]/Data
Mounted network destination at mount point: /Volumes/Data using URL: afp://Tom%[email protected]/Data
Creating disk image /Volumes/Data/TomsMac.sparsebundle
Error 60 creating backup disk image
Failed to create disk image /Volumes/Data/TomsMac.sparsebundle, status: 60
Backup failed with error: 20
Failed to eject volume /Volumes/Data (FSVolumeRefNum: -108; status: -47; dissenting pid: 0)
I did Repair Disk Permissions and Verify Disk and everything's OK.
I erased the Time Capsule using AirPort Utility and did a hard reset on the Time Capsule.
I did a re-install of Mountain Lion and that didn't fix anything.
My MacBook Pro is accessing the Time Capsule wirelessly, as it always has.
Help!

Just to be sure, we're talking about a Time Capsule -- not an AirPort Extreme connected to an external hard drive. Right?
If so, proceed as follows.
Please read this whole message before doing anything.
This procedure is a diagnostic test. It’s unlikely to solve your problem. Don’t be disappointed when you find that nothing has changed after you complete it.
The purpose of this exercise is to determine whether the problem is caused by third-party system modifications that load automatically at startup or login. Disconnect all wired peripherals except those needed for the test, and remove all aftermarket expansion cards. Boot in safe mode* and log in to the account with the problem. The instructions provided by Apple are as follows:
Be sure your Mac is shut down.
Press the power button.
Immediately after you hear the startup tone, hold the Shift key. The Shift key should be held as soon as possible after the startup tone, but not before the tone.
Release the Shift key when you see the gray Apple icon and the progress indicator (looks like a spinning gear).
*Note: If FileVault is enabled under OS X 10.7 or later, or if a firmware password is set, you can’t boot in safe mode.
Safe mode is much slower to boot and run than normal, and some things won’t work at all, including wireless networking on certain Macs.
The login screen appears even if you usually log in automatically. You must know your login password in order to log in. If you’ve forgotten the password, you will need to reset it before you begin.
Test while in safe mode. Same problem(s)?
After testing, reboot as usual (i.e., not in safe mode) and verify that you still have the problem. Post the results of the test.

Time Machine won't back-up. Why?

Time Machine won't back-up to LaCie external drive (OS 10.7.4) after I disconnected and reconnected for a road trip.
Why? How can I correct?

What is the error message?

Can't recreate iphoto library from time machine. Sais there is not enough space where there is more double.

can't recreate iphoto library from time machine. Sais there is not enough space where there is more double.

Recover the iphoto library to a different location eg, a USB drive.. since there could be issues with the new photo app.

HT1689 I am unable to sync my Ipod touch due to not enough space ? I delet bunch of podcasts from my ipod still not downloading ? help pl.

im unable to sync my ipod touch due to not enough space ? even after i deleted bunch of podcasts from it ? help pl.

- When you deleted them did the requested amount of storage space decrease?
- Try resetting the iPod. Nothing is lost
Reset iPod touch: Hold down the On/Off button and the Home button at the same time for at
least ten seconds, until the Apple logo appears.
- When you look at the colored bargraph of storage usage on the iPod in iTunes how much is taken up by "other". If greater than about 3/4 GB then restoring from backup usually reduced the "other".

Time MAchine won't back up due to not enough space, but there is

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