Time Machine
Time Machine local snapshots and System Data
Time Machine keeps local snapshots on your startup disk so you can recover files even when the backup drive isn’t connected. They can be counted in System Data, but macOS treats their space as available and deletes them on its own when it needs room. You can usually leave them alone, and if you do remove them, there’s no way to get them back.
What a local snapshot is
A local snapshot records how your disk looked at a moment in time. APFS keeps it on the same disk and shares storage with your current files, so it only holds on to data you’ve changed or deleted since.
Because the storage is shared, a snapshot has no simple file size, and adding up snapshot sizes doesn’t tell you what you’d get back. Snapshots also aren’t ordinary files, so they can’t be moved to the Trash.
When to leave them alone
Most of the time, let macOS handle them. Snapshot space is counted as available, and macOS removes snapshots when an app needs room. Between backups they’re also the quickest way to get an older version of a file.
Look closer only when free space is a real problem and you have a current backup on an external drive. If that backup is missing or out of date, local snapshots may be the only recovery point you have.
Checking what’s there
Make sure your external backup is in good shape before you change anything.
- Connect your Time Machine backup drive and let a backup finish.
- Open the backup and confirm you can see your recent files.
- List local snapshots without changing anything by running tmutil listlocalsnapshots / in Terminal, or by choosing View > Show APFS Snapshots in Disk Utility.
- Wait a while and check free space again, since macOS often thins snapshots by itself once the space is needed.
How Mint handles snapshots
In the Direct and Setapp editions, the Disk tab shows local snapshots as their own row, apart from caches and logs. Opening it lists each restore point by date and time.
If you choose to release them and confirm, Mint asks macOS to free space from local snapshots, and macOS decides which ones to remove. The newest snapshot isn’t guaranteed to stay. Your current files and external backups aren’t touched, and there’s no Undo afterwards.
How much space comes back varies. The App Store edition doesn’t list or remove snapshots.
Frequently asked questions
Do local snapshots waste disk space?
Not in a way you usually need to fix. macOS counts their space as available and deletes them when room is needed, and until then they let you recover recent changes.
Can I get a deleted snapshot back from the Trash?
No. Snapshots aren’t ordinary files, so they never go to the Trash, and removing one can’t be undone.
Can the App Store edition of Mint remove snapshots?
No. Snapshot removal is only in the Direct and Setapp editions, where it’s a separate step that asks you to confirm first.
Look at your snapshots before you decide
Mint’s Direct and Setapp editions list local snapshots apart from ordinary files, so you can see what’s there before choosing anything permanent.