---
id: mac-storage-basics.what-does-time-machine-delete-when-the-drive-is-full
url: https://storagestudio.us/faq/mac-storage-basics/what-does-time-machine-delete-when-the-drive-is-full
category: "Mac storage basics"
subcategory: "Time Machine basics"
question: "What happens when my Time Machine drive is full?"
alt_questions:
  - "time machine backup disk full"
  - "time machine deleting old backups"
  - "time machine out of space"
  - "oldest backups deleted time machine"
  - "time machine notification full"
short_answer: "It deletes the oldest backups to make room and tells you. History gets shorter but recent backups stay; if one backup won't fit at all, use a bigger drive or exclude folders."
tags: ["time machine", "backup", "full"]
related: ["https://storagestudio.us/faq/mac-storage-basics/how-big-should-a-time-machine-drive-be", "https://storagestudio.us/faq/mac-storage-basics/how-do-i-exclude-folders-from-time-machine"]
applies_to: "all"
last_reviewed: 2026-10-01
---

# What happens when my Time Machine drive is full?

Time Machine automatically deletes the **oldest** backups to make room for new ones, and tells you when it does. Recent backups are kept; the history simply gets shorter.

If a single backup is bigger than the whole drive, backups stop and you'll need a larger drive or to exclude some folders. Time Machine keeps hourly backups for 24 hours, daily backups for a month and weekly backups for older months, as space allows.