How to remove copies of Time Machine stuck in a recycle bin on Mac

If you tried to delete copies of Time Machine from your disk, but they were stuck in the trash and will not be deleted from there, then this article

for you. Below we will tell you how to solve this problem.

This manual applies only to caseswhen copies are not deleted from the recycle bin due to SIP protection. Files may not be deleted for other reasons. If you do not receive the “System Integrity Protection” error message, then the method below will not work for you.

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How to fix error deleting copies of Time Machine

Error message "Some items in the Trash“cannot be deleted because of System Integrity Protection” means that files cannot be deleted due to SIP protection. The SIP system blocks the deletion of important system files, as well as old copies of Time Machine. Accordingly, in order to empty the recycle bin with copies, you will need to temporarily disable the SIP system.

  1. Back up your Mac through Time Machine or another way.
  2. Go to the Apple menu and restart your Mac.
  3. When the Apple logo appears on the screen, hold down the COMMAND and R keys to enter the Mac in recovery mode.
  4. On the utility window, select the Terminal program.
  5. Enter the following command:

csrutil disable; reboot

6. Press Enter to turn off the SIP system and restart the Mac.

7. Wait while the Mac boots up.

8. Now you can move all old unnecessary copies to the trash and empty it.

9. Now you need to re-enable System Integrity Protection.

10. Restart your Mac and hold down COMMAND + R to return it to recovery mode.

11. Go to Terminal and enter the following command:

csrutil enable; reboot

12. Press Enter and wait while the computer boots.

Note that deleting copies of Time Machine maytake a lot of time. If the copy weighs a lot, then even the whole night can take to clean the basket. The main thing is not to forget to turn on SIP protection again, since it performs a very important function.

If the problem persists, you can simply return the jammed copy to its place and delete the others instead. They are located in the “Backup.backupdb” folder.

Alternative way

There is another way to delete copies of Time Machine. To do this, the copy must be in its original folder. You can restore it there directly from the basket.

  1. Run the Terminal program.
  2. Enter the following command, replacing "DRIVENAME" with the name of the drive on which copies of Time Machine are stored, and "SPECIFICBACKUPNAME" &#8211; to the name of the folder with a specific copy.

sudo tmutil delete /Volumes/DRIVENAME/Backups.backupdb/SPECIFICBACKUPNAME

3. Press Enter and enter the administrator password.

When the copy stuck in the basket is deleted, you can continue to use Time Machine as usual.