Help · Mac storage

Time Machine local snapshots: see and delete them.

By Grant and Brad, who make Pangalin's apps · Updated 11 October 2026

If you use Time Machine, your Mac also keeps recent snapshots on its own disk, so you can restore files even when the backup drive isn't connected. A snapshot holds on to everything deleted since it was taken. Delete a big folder, and the space may not come back until the snapshot goes.

Do you need to do anything?

Usually not. macOS deletes local snapshots by itself, first as they age and also when your disk runs low. The space they hold is counted as available in Finder's free-space figure. Act only if you need the space now, for example to install a macOS update, or if an app says there isn't room even though Finder disagrees.

Deleting a snapshot is permanent. You lose the ability to go back to that point from your Mac. Backups on your Time Machine drive aren't affected, so connect the drive and let a backup finish first. If you don't use a backup drive, these snapshots may be your only copies of recently deleted files.

See them: Disk Utility

1. Open Disk Utility (press ⌘Space and type Disk Utility).
2. Choose View › Show APFS Snapshots, then select your startup volume (usually “Macintosh HD” or “Macintosh HD - Data”).
3. The snapshots are listed at the bottom with their dates. Names starting com.apple.TimeMachine are Time Machine's.
4. To delete one, select it and click –, then Delete.

Disk Utility may show “Private size” for each. The true space held is hard to know, because snapshots share data, so treat the numbers as a rough guide.

Or use Terminal

List them (this only reads):

tmutil listlocalsnapshots /

Delete one, using the date from the list (for example 2026-10-06-101500). It asks for your password:

sudo tmutil deletelocalsnapshots 2026-10-06-101500

Or ask macOS to free space by removing as many as it needs, oldest first:

tmutil thinlocalsnapshots / 999999999999 4

Keep them from building up

In System Settings › General › Time Machine › Options, you can back up less often (daily or weekly instead of hourly). Fewer backups mean fewer snapshots. Keep the backup drive connected regularly, too; once a backup completes, older local snapshots aren't needed.