Mac storage basics · Purgeable space and local snapshots

How do I delete local Time Machine snapshots on my Mac?

Short answer: List them with tmutil listlocalsnapshots / and delete one with tmutil deletelocalsnapshots plus its date, or use Disk Utility's Show APFS Snapshots. Update snapshots may be protected.

You can use Terminal:

  1. tmutil listlocalsnapshots / lists the snapshots on your startup disk.
  2. tmutil deletelocalsnapshots followed by the date part of a snapshot's name (for example 2026-10-01-101500) deletes that one.

Disk Utility can also show snapshots for a volume (View → Show APFS Snapshots) and delete selected ones.

Snapshots made before a system update may be protected while macOS needs them. Deleting a snapshot that hasn't reached your Time Machine drive yet means losing that point in time.

Storage Studio's Local Snapshots window lists each snapshot with whether it's already backed up, lets you delete only backed-up ones or reclaim a chosen amount, and never removes system-required snapshots. See the Local Snapshots manager.

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