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Ventura - Time machine, unable to delete a selected folder from backups

Hi!


In previous Mac OS versions there was a possibility to Right-click on the folder or file to remove backups for and choose ‘Delete All Backups of “FileName”‘ and confirm the the removal. Now there is no such thing in Ventura 13.0


Does anyone know a workaround for this issue?


Thanks!

MacBook Pro Apple Silicon

Posted on Oct 31, 2022 7:44 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Oct 31, 2022 8:09 AM

Back up your Mac with Time Machine - Apple Support (CA)


  • To exclude items from backups, open Time Machine settings, click Options, then click the add (+) button to add an item to be excluded. To stop excluding an item, select the item and click the remove (–) button.



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9 replies

Jan 19, 2023 4:34 PM in response to GS-JCA

The short answer is that with an APFS backup (as used by Ventura, etc); there is no longer a way to delete files from backups once they have been created.


You can read more about that here:



What you can’t do:
Delete items within a backup: The synthetic snapshots containing your backups are read-only. As a general principle, you can never change an APFS snapshot, and Time Machine’s backups are no exception.


Oct 31, 2022 8:02 AM in response to PRP_53

Hi!


Thanks for the reply! It was not mocking at all, since the option was there and was working perfectly fine. I just don't need a backup of my downloads folder which I use extensively and make the files come and go every day without needing any backup of them.


So I'm still looking for a solution....

Thanks though :)


Oct 31, 2022 7:55 AM in response to istvan60

Mucking around on the TM Backup Drive to remove individual files is a high risky adventure that may end in loosing ALL Snap Shots on the drive.


It may have worked in some Older Versions of macOS but strongly suggest against doing it now IMHO.


If Empty Space on the existing Drive is the issue - put the Drive Aside for safe keeping ( Safety Deposit Box at Bank ).


Purchase a New External Drive with at least 2 1/2 Greater Capacity than your Internal Drive and set it up as a New TM Backup

Dec 21, 2022 2:02 PM in response to GS-JCA

GS-JCA wrote:

Regret that does not answer the question. Yes, files/folders can be excluded using your suggestion for "future" backups, but the question was how to remove a file/folder from an existing backup....as previously was available as stated by istvan60. So, the question remains unanswered.

The user is very correct.


Then again, the user is not the Owner of this question either.

Ventura - Time machine, unable to delete a selected folder from backups

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