Freeing up space · Local snapshots and held space
What is the Local Snapshots manager in Storage Studio?
Short answer: It's a window listing the local snapshots macOS keeps on your drive, showing which are already on Time Machine, and letting you release their space safely without the Terminal.
It's a window that lists the local snapshots macOS keeps on your built-in drive and lets you release the space they're holding — safely, without the Terminal.
It shows your Time Machine backup destination and latest backup time, one row per snapshot with a status icon and plain-English explanation, and buttons to delete individual snapshots, delete every snapshot already backed up, or reclaim a specific amount. Snapshots your Mac needs are never offered for deletion.
Open it from More → Local Snapshots…. Full detail: Local Snapshots manual.