Reducing Time Machine Disk Space 17
Time Machine
Hey
I like Time Machine, for my needs it is perfect. The problem is that disk space isn’t unlimited as a result you may run out. This post will be showing you how you can save those little bits of space so you can get the most out of your backups. Although it will normally delete backups that you don’t need you will eventually run out of space.
Areas such as /var/tmp, /var/vm and Library/caches are normally not included, these are temporary areas that are really not needed in a backup. You can add more to this list. For example if you go to System Preferences > Time Machine > Options you can add more areas.
The first areas I would recommend you to add is the Developer area. If you have installed the XCode package this is about 3Gb of space which you can save. This folder hardly ever changes. The files are stored on your hard disk anyway.
One of the best areas to exclude is System folders. If you select System from the root of you disk, you will be given an option to exclude either the System Folder or every system folder. This can be a massive saving. For example it will exclude all of those .DS_Store files and every other system file that isn’t really needed by a backup. On my disk it saved 15Gb, which is a massive amount which will always grow.
The final disk folder that is a recommended to be add to the exclude list if your downloads folder. Usually the downloads folder is a temporary storage area for files and folder, as a result it should be excluded from a Time Machine backup. You can have a real saving over time, take example all of those 50mb files you downloaded over an evening, they slowly add up.
Where To Next?
17 Responses to “Reducing Time Machine Disk Space”
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1
What’s the difference between excluding just the System Folder or every system folder?
Comment By Garett King on December 2nd, at 12:02 am
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Every system folder will be the ones inside you home folder not just /System/
Comment By admin on December 2nd, at 12:25 am
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I set XCode to put all its builds (and temp files for building) into one folder and excluded it. Also, because I use my Drop Boxes frequently, I excluded them, too.
How can I set Time Machine, not to include any .DS_Store file?
Anakin
Comment By anakin on December 2nd, at 8:19 am
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Set it to exclude system files, although I have a feeling it does that already.
Comment By admin on December 2nd, at 12:59 pm
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Remember that your mail folder is inside the user/library folder. If you want your emails backed up you should be careful what you exclude.
Comment By Anders on December 2nd, at 10:10 pm
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i just found this blog and i’m loving it!!!
Comment By joao on December 2nd, at 11:18 pm
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If for some reason my internal hard drive explodes and I have to restore everything from the external time machine hard drive….. will the System files be essential? I mean, can I delete them without guilt?
thanks!Comment By Alex on December 6th, at 2:52 am
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I think, so don’t quote me, when you restore from time machine it uses your install disk as well. Not everything by default is backed up. Anyway if it does go kaboom, you can always hit restore from a high level folder like /Users or /Applications
Comment By admin on December 6th, at 2:54 am
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You “think” so? You THINK so? You “THINK” a time machine restore uses the install disk?
You seriously NEED TO DO SOME RESEARCH before you go broadcasting your ignorance .
Time Machine restores are a drag-and-drop procedure: grab the file/folder/entire backup set you want to
restore, hit the “Restore” button, and you’re done.If you exclude System folders from Time Machine, guess what: there are NO system folders to be restored.
Duh.
Comment By mclaugh on December 8th, at 3:50 pm
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@ mclaugh
dude, calm down please. Try to read again what you have wrote, and ask yourself if you haven’t been a little agressive and ignorant yourself. He even said he wasn’t sure about his answer, meaning I am the one who should do the research, not him.
And just for fun, I’m gonna tell you why he is also correct:1) you said that if my hard drive breaks, there will be no system files to restore in my new hard drive. BUT you weren’t considering the fact that I might buy a new mac, therefore the system files woudn’t be needed. You were in such a hurry to bash his comment that you forgot to consider the fact that MAAAYBE I’d like to change my current mac instead of buying a new hard drive.
2) he said it in a humble way, explicitly saying that he wasn’t sure of his answer, while you went on, so sure of your infinite wisdom, trying to explain how time machine works, as if I or the admin didn’t know that already.Other than that, I ask you this: how did you came up with this info? How are you so sure that if I have to set up a new hard drive I won’t be able to use my Leopard install disk? Care to post any sources? Thank you ;)
Comment By Alex on December 8th, at 8:30 pm
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.DS_Store files are not excluded when you press “Exclude All System Files” , there is no way to exclude them , please check your statements before posting false tips
Comment By valexa on November 1st, at 8:22 pm
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Very Good website dude Thank you
Comment By Fidel Peel on July 28th, at 1:36 pm
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13
Thank you, interesting article
Comment By Kurtis Perini on July 28th, at 3:30 pm
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Really good tip… [;)]
Comment By [[dbalieiro]] on August 6th, at 6:19 pm
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Very well written post. It will be supportive to anyone who utilizes it, including me. Keep up the good work – looking forward to more posts.
Comment By Elma Danaher on December 30th, at 12:28 am
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nice tutorial you gave…i recently purchased a macbook pro,so i’m sure these tips will come in handy
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Comment By serrurier on June 6th, at 8:22 am