merge/delete partitions/volumes

[patent10021]

I have a 2TB Seagate with two partitions. Is there no way to merge partitions except for a fresh erase? I guess it would be removing a volume which automatically increases the size of the remaining volume?

I was reading some info that showed how to do it with Disk Utility but Disk Utility would not let me do it. There was a previous Time Machine backup on there but I deleted it. It seems like some data from that is preventing this.

https://www.lifewire.com/disk-utility-add-delete-resize-existing-volumes-2260078

 

[CoastalOR]

The link you posted is for Disk Utility in Yosemite (Disk Utility options are different on some versions of macOS). Is that the macOS version you are using?

TM backups can make things harder to remove all files without a volume erase. How did you delete the TM backups?

If it was me, to keep it simple, I would backup any data i want to keep (this is also an important step also when trying to modify partitions). Then erase (format) the entire drive to one partition. Restore data to the newly formatted drive.

 

[patent10021]

I'm on 10.14. I just deleted the files manually. I guess I'll have to back it all up and erase as you said. PITA.

 

[CoastalOR]

You could try backing up the data that you want to save on the Seagate, erase (format) the TM volume, then go to the partition graph in Disk Utility and click on the - button to see if it works for you. If it does not then you can go the brute force method. This method would work best if the TM partition is not the first volume.

 

[Fishrrman]

Agree with Coastal above:
1. Back up the partition(s) involved
2. ERASE the drive
3. RE-partition if required (or, skip this for only one partition)
4. RESTORE the data.

Work? Yes.
But doing it that way is "doing it the right way".