130 MACWORLD OCTOBER 2019
HELPDESK MAC 911backups. The company discontinued the
device and other related network gear, but
there are plenty still in operation.
A problem with Time Capsule is that its
drive can get filled with outdated backups
if you migrate computers and don’t adopt
the old backup set. Fortunately, Time
Capsule exposes that data in a particular
way, making it possible to delete
unwanted backups.
Warning: These deletions aren’t
reversible. Make doubly sure before your
delete a Time Machine backup from your
Time Capsule that it’s the one or ones you
really intend.
- Mount your Time Capsule volume in
the Finder. (If you’ve forgotten the pass-
word, you can use AirPort Utility to reset
file sharing settings.) - Open the Data folder.
- Find any disk images that corre-
spond to outdated backups and throw
those in the Trash. - You may be prompted to empty the
trash immediately, because it’s a net-
worked volume. If so, agree to do so.
Otherwise, empty the trash from the Finder
menu. - Eject the volume from the Finder
(Finder → Eject). ■
The Data folder in the Time Capsule volume holds Time Machine backups. (Yes, the screen
capture is ancient, from the last time I used Time Capsule for backups.)