Time Machine Configuration Question

[watcher00090]

Hi,

I'm using MacOS 10.13.6 High Sierra on a late 2012 Macbook Pro. I was thinking of using Time Machine to back up the computer to a external hard drive.

Is there any way to configure Time Machine to never delete the oldest backup snapshots? I have heard (see https://discussions.apple.com/thread/6721265?answerId=27298177022#27298177022 ) that Time Machine will delete the oldest backup snapshots to make way for a new backup if there is not enough space on the target volume. I would prefer to have Time Machine not back up at all in such a scenario rather than delete the oldest snapshots to make way for a newer snapshot.

Thank you,
James Pedersen

 

[DeltaMac]

Are you providing enough space for a Time Machine drive?
The usual recommendation for a Time Machine backup drive is double the size of your boot drive

 

[apostolosdt]

I use a 4 TB ext disk as a Time Machine for a base Mini M1. After the first full (?) backup, I turned off the automatic backup and only turn it on in the rare case I install a new app. However, all user’s data are in the cloud, and the TM disk has storage space for long time use.

The OS will warn you well before TM starts deleting, thus you will have plenty of time to unplug the TM disk and connect a new one.

 

[Bigwaff]

Good stuff.

Time Machine: 1 How it works, or fails to

New series looking at how TM works, what its problems are, what tools to use to diagnose those, and how to fix it.

eclecticlight.co

 

[watcher00090]

Right but will Time Machine warn me (for instance with a popup message which asks if I want to continue) that it's about to delete a backup when backing up prior to backing up to a hard drive which is low on space?

It would be really great if it would give me some sort of indication that this is what it is about to do before it does it, so that I can then decide whether to proceed or not based on that information.