Time Machine backup error and file transfer issues on Mac with external drive

rmt0912 wrote:

time machine said my HD doesn't have enough storage to do a backup(?)

did the message have to do with a local snapshot? if yes, it meant there was not enough space on your local drive. TM needs to make a snapshot on the local drive before it gets sent to the external TM drive.

so then instead I tried to move only certain huge files I have from my mac to the ext hd. It will not allow me to do this. Isn't there a way to simply select certain files to copy/export to my external drive (1 TB aiolo innovation brand, HDD-USB) so I can free up space?

after trying to use the drive with TM, did you erase and reformat the drive before trying to manually move files to it? if not, that is your issue. when you first assign a drive to TM, the drive becomes "read only". you would need to erase it to be able to use it for that intended use.

That was the whole point of getting an external drive.

yes, I agree. I personally keep very little on my local drive.

In addition to jeffrythefrog’s answer: move large files, e.g. your photolibrary to another external drive. TimeMachine includes external drives in a backup