Data being backed up seems to be increasing steadily, and there are large changes in space used in the Data volume. How large downloads affect that, and can appear puzzling.
backup
New version improves readability of selected containers, and adds compressed plots that can show months of data in a single view without scrolling.
Over the last 2 months I have been monitoring used and free disk space in my backup storage, and internal SSD. Here are some observations, and a new version of DeltaFree to measure your own.
When transferring the contents of Data volumes, or individual accounts, use Migration Assistant rather than copying or restoring. Here’s how.
Tahoe 26.4 broke the copying of login keychains. Apple has at last explained how you can copy them successfully, and what backup software needs to do. Explained in full.
For the last 38 days, I have been measuring free and used space in my Mac’s boot container and its backup storage. Here’s what has happened, and how upgrading to macOS 27 changed it.
Although they can only grow in size, and mustn’t be left lying around, snapshots can be very useful, provided you manage them carefully, as described here.
How do you locate part of a document that you removed or changed greatly, and copy that content into the version you’re currently editing? What to do when it’s too much for Undo.
Major improvements in its plots make this new utility even better for tracking changes in used space, and so forecasting how long backup storage will take to fill.
Further tests on two volumes with over 90 GB purgeable space. One took almost 30 minuted to become available, the other never got there at all. The log reveals who was responsible.
