# How to delete Time Machine local snapshots on a Mac

> List and delete Time Machine local snapshots with tmutil, or let macOS remove them by switching backups to manual. Tested on macOS 26 Tahoe.

Updated: 2026-10-12 · Tested on: MacBook Pro 14" (M1 Pro, 16 GB), macOS 26.3 Tahoe · Applies to: macOS 10.13 High Sierra – 26 Tahoe · Author: Tu Nguyen, OneClickTool Studio

## Short answer

- List local snapshots with: tmutil listlocalsnapshots /
- Delete every local snapshot on the startup disk with: sudo tmutil deletelocalsnapshots /
- Delete one snapshot by its date with: sudo tmutil deletelocalsnapshots 2026-10-01-093000
- Apple's no-Terminal method: set Time Machine backup frequency to Manually, wait a few minutes, then turn automatic backups back on.

## What local snapshots are

When Time Machine is on, it does not only back up to your external disk. It also keeps **local snapshots** on the Mac itself, so you can restore a file when the backup disk is not plugged in. According to Apple, Time Machine:

- saves a snapshot of the startup disk about every hour and keeps it for 24 hours,
- keeps one extra snapshot of the last successful backup until space is needed,
- saves another snapshot before installing a macOS update (High Sierra 10.13 and later).

Snapshots are part of what macOS shows as **System Data**, which is why they come up when people try to work out [why System Data is so large](https://oneclicktool.app/fix/storage/mac-system-data-too-large).

## Step 1: list the snapshots

Open Terminal (in Applications › Utilities, or press <kbd>⌘</kbd> <kbd>Space</kbd> and type Terminal) and run:

```
tmutil listlocalsnapshots /
```

You will see lines like `com.apple.TimeMachine.2026-10-01-093000.local`. The part in the middle is the date and time the snapshot was taken. If you only see `Snapshots for disk /:` with nothing under it, there are no local snapshots and this is not what is filling your disk. That was the case on our test Mac: `tmutil destinationinfo` reported "No destinations configured", and without Time Machine set up there are no local snapshots to delete.

To see only the dates:

```
tmutil listlocalsnapshotdates /
```

## Step 2: delete them

### Delete all local snapshots on the startup disk

```
sudo tmutil deletelocalsnapshots /
```

Type your Mac password when asked (nothing appears while you type, which is normal). The manual page for `tmutil` on macOS 26.3 describes this form as: "If a disk is specified, delete all local Time Machine snapshots on the specified disk."

### Delete one snapshot by date

```
sudo tmutil deletelocalsnapshots 2026-10-01-093000
```

Use the date exactly as `listlocalsnapshotdates` prints it, in the format `YYYY-MM-DD-HHMMSS`. A date deletes the snapshots taken at that time on all mounted disks.

### Ask macOS to thin them instead

`thinlocalsnapshots` asks macOS to free a set amount of space by removing snapshots, oldest first:

```
sudo tmutil thinlocalsnapshots / 20000000000 4
```

The number is bytes (20000000000 is about 20 GB) and the last value is the urgency, from 1 to 4.

## The no-Terminal way (Apple's method)

Apple's own instructions avoid Terminal:

1. Open **System Settings › General › Time Machine**.
2. Click **Options**, set **Backup Frequency** to **Manually**, then click **Done**.
3. Wait a few minutes. macOS deletes the local snapshots.
4. Set Backup Frequency back to what it was.

On macOS 12 Monterey and earlier, untick **Back Up Automatically** in Time Machine preferences instead.

> **Do not delete** the snapshots on your Time Machine backup disk from Finder, and do not turn Time Machine off for good just to save space. Your backups are worth more than the gigabytes.

## Snapshots that are not Time Machine

`tmutil` only shows Time Machine snapshots. If you list APFS snapshots directly, you will see others:

```
diskutil apfs listSnapshots /
```

On our test Mac this showed one snapshot named `com.apple.os.update-…` with **Purgeable: No**. That is the sealed snapshot macOS boots from, created by the last system update. It is part of macOS itself, not a backup, and it cannot and should not be deleted. Leave any snapshot whose name starts with `com.apple.os.update` alone.

Some backup apps (Carbon Copy Cloner, for example) can also make their own APFS snapshots. Remove those from inside the app that made them, so the app's records stay correct.

## Why Finder shows "purgeable" space

Apple counts local snapshot space as **available**. That is why Finder's status bar and the Get Info window can show more free space, often labelled *purgeable*, than Terminal's `df -h` command. The purgeable part is space macOS will free on its own the moment an app needs it. If the two numbers differ a lot, snapshots and iCloud files kept on the Mac are usually the reason.

## Check that it worked

Run `tmutil listlocalsnapshots /` again: the list should be empty or shorter. Then open **System Settings › General › Storage**. The System Data bar can take a few minutes to update.

If System Data is still large, snapshots were not the cause. The usual next suspects are [Library caches](https://oneclicktool.app/fix/storage/is-it-safe-to-delete-library-caches) and [Xcode files](https://oneclicktool.app/fix/storage/xcode-taking-up-space). The [storage checklist](https://oneclicktool.app/fix/storage/mac-storage-full) covers the rest.

## FAQ

**Is it safe to delete Time Machine local snapshots?**

Yes. Local snapshots are extra copies kept on the Mac. Deleting them does not touch your Time Machine backup disk; you only lose the option to restore from the last 24 hours while the backup disk is away.

**Do local snapshots stop me from downloading files?**

Usually not. Apple says the Mac counts snapshot space as available storage and deletes snapshots when space is needed. They mostly make the Storage bar look fuller than it is.

**Why does tmutil say no snapshots?**

Time Machine only keeps local snapshots when it is set up with automatic backups on, and Apple says it stores them only on disks with plenty of free space. Run tmutil destinationinfo: if it says no destinations are configured, Time Machine is off and there are no snapshots.

**Will new snapshots come back?**

Yes, if Time Machine is on. It saves a snapshot about every hour and keeps each for 24 hours, plus one before every macOS update.

## Sources

- [About Time Machine local snapshots — Apple Support](https://support.apple.com/en-us/102154)
- [Free up storage space on Mac — Apple Support](https://support.apple.com/en-us/102624)

Source: https://oneclicktool.app/fix/storage/delete-time-machine-local-snapshots