Deleting old systems Time Machine backups

[jerryk]

I have a 2018 15" MBP. I had a 2015 15" MBP. How do I delete the backups from the old 2015 system?

Before I sold the 2015 machine I copied all the files, so I just want to free up space on my NAS's TM pool.

 

[Juli112]

Just open the folder on your NAS and delete the .sparsebundle file of the old MBP.

 

[IngerMan]

I have a 2018 15" MBP. I had a 2015 15" MBP. How do I delete the backups from the old 2015 system?

Before I sold the 2015 machine I copied all the files, so I just want to free up space on my NAS's TM pool.

It can be dangerous deleting files in the TM because how they link. I’m no expert but what I’ve done for upgrading is taken a spare external drive and backed up the old machine one last time and store that drive. then take the current drive I use for TM and wipe it clean and start all over.

 

[leman]

Can you explain a bit more? You mean you used the same backup file to backup both computers? Or do you have two different backups?

 

[jerryk]

Can you explain a bit more? You mean you used the same backup file to backup both computers? Or do you have two different backups?

I have a been using TM to backup the old 2015 MBP which I sold to a TM share. I copied all the files I cared about (ie. data) to a regular Mac share on the NAS. Now I want to start using Time Machine to backup my new 2018 MBP. The old 2015 MBP TM backups are not needed since I have all the files backup up elsewhere.

 

[leman]

I have a been using TM to backup the old 2015 MBP which I sold to a TM share. I copied all the files I cared about (ie. data) to a regular Mac share on the NAS. Now I want to start using Time Machine to backup my new 2018 MBP. The old 2015 MBP TM backups are not needed since I have all the files backup up elsewhere.

Then just delete the old backup container? How exactly to do that depends on the NAS in question and how you configured it...

 

[jerryk]

Then just delete the old backup container? How exactly to do that depends on the NAS in question and how you configured it...

Thanks. Looks like the easiest way to do this with my NAS is deleted the current TM service and its file on the NAS and then recreate them. When I tried to delete just the sparsebundle it hung.

 

[deeddawg]

I have a been using TM to backup the old 2015 MBP which I sold to a TM share. I copied all the files I cared about (ie. data) to a regular Mac share on the NAS. Now I want to start using Time Machine to backup my new 2018 MBP. The old 2015 MBP TM backups are not needed since I have all the files backup up elsewhere.

As above, just delete the .sparsebundle related to the old 2015 MBP TM backups. That'll typically clear everything below. I'd do it from the NAS's filemanager interface if it has one. The 2018 will create its own new .sparsebundle for its TM backups.