How to Delete APFS Local Snapshots on Mac (tmutil + GUI)

APFS local snapshots are point-in-time copies of your drive that Time Machine creates automatically, even when no external backup disk is connected. They quietly consume gigabytes of space labeled "System Data" or "Purgeable" in Storage settings, and the only reliable way to reclaim that space is to delete APFS local snapshots explicitly — either through Terminal or a GUI tool. This guide covers both routes, explains what disappears when you remove a snapshot, and tells you when it is safe to do so.

What Are APFS Local Snapshots?

Since macOS High Sierra, Time Machine stores local snapshots on your startup volume using APFS's built-in snapshot capability. Snapshots capture the state of your entire volume at a specific moment. macOS creates them hourly (up to 24 kept) and daily (up to a week kept), subject to available space.

Unlike purgeable cache files, snapshots are not automatically removed when an app requests more space — at least not always promptly. On a full or nearly-full drive they can prevent you from writing new files until manually deleted.

Where snapshots live

Snapshots are stored inside the APFS volume itself, not in a visible folder. They do not appear under ~/Library or anywhere in Finder. The only way to inspect them is through Disk Utility or Terminal commands.

Check Your Existing Local Snapshots

Before deleting anything, list what you have. Open Terminal (/Applications/Utilities/Terminal.app) and run:

tmutil listlocalsnapshots /

You will see output like:

com.apple.TimeMachine.2025-11-14-083021.local
com.apple.TimeMachine.2025-11-14-093021.local
com.apple.TimeMachine.2025-11-14-103021.local

Each line is a snapshot name. The date-time stamp tells you exactly when it was taken. To see how much disk space all snapshots are consuming:

tmutil listlocalsnapshotdates / | tail -n +2 | while read d; do tmutil localsnapshot / 2>/dev/null; done

A simpler size estimate comes from Disk Utility: select your Macintosh HD volume and note the "Purgeable" figure — snapshots account for a large portion of it.

Delete APFS Local Snapshots with tmutil

The tmutil deletelocalsnapshots command is the standard macOS tool for removing individual snapshots. You do not need sudo for snapshots on the boot volume in most cases, but some macOS versions require it.

Delete a single snapshot

1. Copy the snapshot name from the tmutil listlocalsnapshots / output above.
2. Run:

tmutil deletelocalsnapshots 2025-11-14-083021

Note: pass only the date-time portion (YYYY-MM-DD-HHMMSS), not the full com.apple.TimeMachine… prefix.

Delete all local snapshots at once

To remove every local snapshot in a single command (macOS 12 Monterey and later):

tmutil deletelocalsnapshots /

On macOS 11 Big Sur and earlier the syntax is slightly different — you must pass the mount point:

for d in $(tmutil listlocalsnapshotdates | grep "-"); do tmutil deletelocalsnapshots "$d"; done

Verify the space was reclaimed

df -h /

Available space should increase immediately or after a few seconds as APFS frees the blocks.

Remove Local Snapshots Without Terminal

If the command line is not your preference, there are two GUI paths.

Disk Utility (limited)

1. Open Disk Utility from /Applications/Utilities/.
2. Select Macintosh HD in the sidebar.
3. Click Edit > Delete APFS Snapshot… (this option appears only when snapshots exist).
4. Select a snapshot and click Delete.

Disk Utility only shows you one snapshot at a time and does not display sizes, making bulk cleanup tedious.

Crumb (one-click cleanup)

Crumb handles APFS snapshots as part of its one-click Clean operation. It lists each snapshot with its date, performs a safety check (warning you if a recent snapshot is your only local backup), and removes them without you ever opening a Terminal window. If you prefer to see exactly what will be deleted before committing, Crumb's scan step shows a breakdown of every snapshot alongside caches, logs, and temp files — so you make one informed decision rather than several.

What You Lose When You Delete a Snapshot

Deleting a local snapshot is permanent and cannot be undone.

Specifically, removing a snapshot means:

• You can no longer use Time Machine's "Enter Time Machine" view to restore files to the state captured by that snapshot.
• If you accidentally delete a file after the snapshot was taken but before your next external or network backup, that version of the file is gone.
• macOS itself is unaffected — snapshots are not system recovery partitions. Deleting them will not break your Mac or prevent it from booting.

The risk level depends on your backup situation:

In short: if you have a recent external or cloud backup, deleting local snapshots is safe. If you do not, consider connecting your Time Machine disk and completing a backup first.

How Much Space Can You Expect to Recover?

This varies widely. On a MacBook that has been running for several days without connecting a Time Machine disk, local snapshots commonly occupy 10–30 GB. On machines with large files that change frequently (video editors, developers with large build caches) the figure can reach 50 GB or more. Snapshots are stored efficiently using APFS's copy-on-write mechanism — only changed blocks are stored, not full volume copies — so the number is proportional to how much has changed since the oldest snapshot was taken.

Prevent Snapshots From Accumulating

If you want macOS to stop creating local snapshots entirely, you can disable Time Machine's local snapshot feature:

sudo tmutil disablelocal

Note: on macOS Monterey (12) and later, Apple removed this command. Local snapshots are now always enabled when Time Machine is on. The practical alternative is to ensure Time Machine backs up to an external disk regularly — once a backup completes, macOS automatically prunes older local snapshots to free space.

For ongoing maintenance, running a disk cleaner after large projects or OS updates keeps snapshot accumulation from going unnoticed. Download Crumb to add snapshot cleanup to your regular Mac maintenance routine alongside caches, logs, and app leftovers — all in one pass from the menu bar.

Quick Reference: tmutil Snapshot Commands

# List all local snapshots
tmutil listlocalsnapshots /

# List snapshot dates only
tmutil listlocalsnapshotdates /

# Delete a single snapshot (use date-time string)
tmutil deletelocalsnapshots YYYY-MM-DD-HHMMSS

# Delete ALL local snapshots (macOS 12+)
tmutil deletelocalsnapshots /

Conclusion

Local APFS snapshots serve a genuine purpose — they are your first line of recovery for accidental deletions — but they can silently consume tens of gigabytes and are easy to forget about. The tmutil deletelocalsnapshots command gives you precise, scriptable control, while Disk Utility or a tool like Crumb provides a GUI path for those who prefer it. Whichever route you take, verify you have a recent external backup first, then reclaim the space with confidence.