Cleaning up backups, backup versions, and replicas

Cleanup rules for backups

Go to the Backup section.
From the backup list, select the backup for which you want to clean up versions, and then click Options.
On the Backup scheme tab, select Custom scheme, select a backup method, and then click Turn on automatic cleanup.
Configure cleanup rules for the backup.

See Custom schemes for details.

After the cleanup, some auxiliary files may stay in the storage. Do not delete them!

Cleanup rules for backup replicas

For more information on cloud replicas of your local backups, see Replicating backups to Acronis Cloud.

Go to the Backup section.
From the backup list, select the backup for which you want to clean up replica versions, and then click Options.
On the Advanced tab, open the Acronis Cloud cleanup tab.
- Use the Store no more than … recent backup versions option to enter a value that limits the maximum number of replica versions that are stored.
- Select the Delete backup versions that are older than check box and enter a value that limits the maximum age of the older versions. The most recent versions will be kept and all other versions will be automatically deleted.

Cleaning up backups manually

When you want to delete backup versions that you no longer need, use the tools provided in the application. If you delete backup version files outside Acronis True Image, for example in File Explorer, this will result in errors during operations with the backups.

Versions of the following backups cannot be deleted manually:

Backups stored on CD, DVD, BD or Acronis Secure Zone.
Nonstop backups.
Notarized backups.

To clean up backup versions locally in Acronis True Image

In the Backup section, click the down arrow icon next to the backup to clean up, and then click Clean up versions.

The Clean up backup versions window opens.
If you want to delete replicas, select Acronis Cloud under Delete versions from.
Select the required versions and click Delete.
Click Delete in the confirmation request.

Please wait for the cleanup operation to complete. After the cleanup, some auxiliary files may stay in the storage. Do not delete them.

Cleanup removes backup versions from storage, but does not clear the backup log in the Activity tab. To reset the backup log for a backup, remove the backup record (the item in the Backup list) in Acronis True Image. New log entries will appear when the next backup operations run. See Deleting backups and replicas.

Cleaning up versions that have dependent versions

A backup version can be part of a backup version chain Sequence of minimum two backup versions that consist of the first full backup version and the subsequent one or more incremental or differential backup versions. Backup version chain continues till the next full backup version (if any)..

If you delete an incremental version file manually (for example, in File Explorer), recovery from this version and the following incremental versions may fail.

If you use the Clean up versions wizard in Acronis True Image, the app keeps the remaining backup data consistent. For backups in the current format (.tibx), you can delete an incremental version in the middle of the chain without deleting all following incremental versions.

If you select a full version A self-sufficient backup version containing all data chosen for backup. You do not need access to any other backup version to recover the data from a full backup version., the app also selects all dependent incremental and differential versions until the next full version. In this case, the whole chain is deleted. If the backup contains only full versions, they can be deleted independently.
If you select a differential version A differential backup version stores changes to the data against the latest full backup version. You need access to the corresponding full backup version to recover the data from a differential backup version., it can be deleted independently.
If you select an incremental version A backup version that stores changes to the data against the latest backup version. You need access to other backup versions from the same backup to restore data from an incremental backup version., cleanup behavior depends on backup format and chain consistency.

To clean up backup versions by using Acronis Cloud

Go to https://www.acronis.com/my/online-backup/webrestore/, and then log in to your Acronis account.
On the Backups tab, click the size of the backup or the replica whose versions you want to delete.
In the details view, click Clean up.

You can select to delete versions older than a period selected by you, or clean up all versions except a number of recent ones.
Configure what to delete and click Clean up now.
In the confirmation dialog, click Delete.

The status of the cleanup procedure is displayed when the operation is completed.

Deleting backups and replicas

Cleaning up space on Acronis Cloud