Managing Backup Files
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      1. Macrium Reflect LTSC
      2. Imaging, Cloning, & File and Folder Backups
      3. Managing Backup Files

      Deleting Backup Files

      - Overview

      - Selecting Backups to Delete

      - Deleting a Backup

      Overview

      Since backups in a backup set may have dependencies on other backup files in the same set, it is not recommended that backups are deleted using Windows Explorer. Instead, Macrium Reflect offers a more graphical deletion wizard that ensures that backup set integrity will not be broken when deleting backup files.

      If Macrium Image Guardian is enabled for a drive, backup files cannot be deleted using Windows Explorer. Attempting to do so will result in error 0x80070510, shown below:

      More information about Macrium Image Guardian can be found in this article.

      Selecting Backups to Delete

      Backups can be deleted through the 'Existing Backup' tab of Macrium Reflect. The 'Image' or 'File and Folder' tab should be selected depending on the type of backup that will be deleted:

      Macrium Reflect will search recent backup locations for backup files and display them on the 'Existing Backups' tab. If the backup that will be deleted is not currently visible in the 'Existing Backups' tab additional paths can be searched by using the 'Edit' button:

      In the window that opens, enter the path to the backup and then select 'Add to list'.

      After selecting 'OK' any backups found in the path will be displayed in the 'Existing Backups' tab.

      Alternatively, backup files can be found using Windows Explorer by selecting 'Browse for an image file...':

      In the Explorer window that opens, navigate to where the backup file(s) are located, select the backup file that will be deleted then select 'Open':

      The entire backup set will then be displayed on the 'Existing Backups' tab.

      Deleting a Backup

      Backups in the 'Existing Backups' tab are grouped by backup set, displaying a clear view of the dependencies between backup files:

      Select the backup that will be deleted then select 'Delete' to open the 'Delete files from backup set' window:

      In this window, the selected backup and any dependent backups will be selected automatically. In this example, 4CB4838DF97BAA0-03-03.mrimg was selected for deletion, since incrementals -04-04 and -05-05 are appended to the selected differential, they will also be deleted to maintain backup set integrity. Since later backups are appended to a new differential, which is appended directly to the full backup, they will not be affected by the deletion of this differential and appended incremental backups.

      The right-hand side of this window will display the files that will be deleted, the number of files being deleted, and the disk space that will be reclaimed by deleting the selected files.

      Select 'OK' to delete the selected files, you will then be prompted to confirm this choice:

      Deleted backups will not be sent to the recycling bin and will instead be permanently deleted. We strongly recommend ensuring that the selected backups do not contain important data that may need to be restored at a later date.