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Time Machine backup drive contains 1TB more data than the drive on my computer

Why does my external Time Machine backup drive contain 1TB more data than the hard drive on the computer? And if this is not "normal", how do I fix it?

iMac 27" 5K, macOS 10.15

Posted on May 25, 2020 8:11 AM

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Posted on May 25, 2020 8:15 AM

It is normal for time machine to contain more data than the drive it is backing up.

In addition to maintaining a current backup Time Machine also tries to maintain hourly changes histories for the past day, daily changes for the past month, and weekly changes histories for as long as storage allows. The intent is to allow the user to roll back a file to a particular point in time if needed.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201250

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

May 25, 2020 8:15 AM in response to Norris Hall

It is normal for time machine to contain more data than the drive it is backing up.

In addition to maintaining a current backup Time Machine also tries to maintain hourly changes histories for the past day, daily changes for the past month, and weekly changes histories for as long as storage allows. The intent is to allow the user to roll back a file to a particular point in time if needed.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201250

Time Machine backup drive contains 1TB more data than the drive on my computer

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