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Trash won't delete millions of Time Machine backup files

I moved some Time Machine backups to the trash, to save space on my external USB backup drives, and now they won't delete and can't be put back either. Now I have millions of files stuck in my trash.


I've been using Time Machine with my 2008 Mac Pro for years without a problem. I use a 2TB drive and a 3TB drive, so if one fails, I still have a backup. I started to get error messages saying Time Machine could not backup to the 2TB drive. So I checked it and it was almost full. I know that Time Machine is supposed to delete older backups, but I thought it might be struggling to do this. So I went into the backups folder and moved around 20 of the oldest dated backups to the trash. I also did the same thing on the 3TB drive, as I thought it would help. I've done it before, a few years ago, and, although it took ages, it worked. However, when I tried to empty trash this time, it came up with an error: The operation can't be completed because an unexpected error occurred (error code -8072). I have tried to select the files in the trash and "Delete immediately", but that doesn't work. It takes more than 48 hours to process the deleting and then it errors.


I have read online about using the Terminal to empty trash, but when I tried to do what it said, nothing happened. It's also a tad scary using Terminal, because I don't want to wipe my Mac accidentally. Is there anything else I can try?


The only thing I can think of doing is using Disk Utility to erase one of the drives and starting Time Machine backups again. Once that drive has a couple of backups on it, do the same with the other drive. It means starting again and I won't have any older backups to go to if I need them. But I don't know what else to do to delete the millions of files stuck in the trash. Any suggestions?

Mac Pro, 10.11

Posted on Oct 1, 2021 2:16 AM

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Posted on Oct 1, 2021 3:37 AM

Deleting Time Machine Backups Off the external drive is a dangerous adventure and may Corrupt the DataBase kept by Time Machine Backup uses to keep track of what it has done.


The best advise is what you have already thought of - Wipe the drives clean and start again from Scratch.

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Oct 1, 2021 3:37 AM in response to Seven Zebras

Deleting Time Machine Backups Off the external drive is a dangerous adventure and may Corrupt the DataBase kept by Time Machine Backup uses to keep track of what it has done.


The best advise is what you have already thought of - Wipe the drives clean and start again from Scratch.

Trash won't delete millions of Time Machine backup files

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