How to remove backups created by Windows Server Backup
Windows Server Backup is a built-in feature that allows you to backup and restore your server data, including the system state, applications, files, and folders. However, over time, the backup disk may run out of space and cause the backup to fail. In this article, we will show you how to delete old backups created by Windows Server Backup using different methods.
How To Remove Backups Created By Windows Server Backup
Method 1: Use automatic disk usage management
Windows Server Backup has a feature called automatic disk usage management, which can shrink the storage space allocated for snapshots (also known as diff area) and delete old backups to make room for new ones. This feature works only for scheduled backups and not for external hard drives. To enable or disable this feature, follow these steps:
Open Windows Server Backup from the Start menu or the Server Manager.
In the Actions pane, click Backup Schedule.
Follow the wizard to select the backup items, destination, and schedule.
On the Specify Advanced Options page, select VSS Full Backup or VSS Copy Backup. The former will delete the previous versions of files on the backup disk, while the latter will keep them.
On the Confirmation page, click Finish to save the settings.
Note that automatic disk usage management has some limitations. It will not shrink the diff area below 1/8 of the target volume size, and it may not work properly if the backup disk is highly fragmented or has bad sectors. If you encounter these issues, you may need to use other methods to delete old backups manually.
Method 2: Use Wbadmin command line
Wbadmin is a command-line tool that can perform various backup and restore operations. You can use it to delete old backups manually by specifying the backup version or the number of backups to keep. To use Wbadmin, you need to open Command Prompt as Administrator and type the following syntax:
wbadmin delete backup -keepVersions:<No. of copies to keep> -version:<VersionIdentifier> -deleteOldest -backupTarget:<VolumeName> -machine:<BackupMachineName> -quiet
Here are some examples of how to use Wbadmin to delete old backups:
To delete all backups except the 10 most recent ones, type:
wbadmin delete backup -keepVersions:10
To delete a specific backup version, type:
wbadmin delete backup -version:03/25/2023-04:30
To delete the oldest backup on drive G:, type:
wbadmin delete backup -backupTarget:G:\ -deleteOldest
If you want to delete only system state backups, you can use the following syntax:
wbadmin delete systemstatebackup -keepVersions:<No. of copies to keep> -version:<VersionIdentifier> -deleteOldest -backupTarget:<VolumeName> -machine:<BackupMachineName> -quiet
Note that Wbadmin does not allow you to delete other kinds of backups individually, such as files, applications, or bare metal recovery backups. If you want to delete them, you need to delete the entire backup set that contains them.
Method 3: Use PowerShell cmdlets
PowerShell is another command-line tool that can perform various tasks on Windows Server. You can use it to delete old backups created by Windows Server Backup using the Remove-WBBackupSet cmdlet. The syntax of this cmdlet is as follows:
Remove-WBBackupSet [-BackupSet] <WBBackupSet[]> [-Force] [-Confirm] [-WhatIf] [<CommonParameters>] Remove-WBBackupSet [-DeleteOldest] [-BackupTarget] <WBBackupTarget[]> [-MachineName] <String> [-Force] [-Confirm] [-WhatIf] [<CommonParameters>]
Here are some examples of how to use Remove-WBBackupSet to delete old backups:
To delete the oldest backup set on drive G:, type:
Remove-WBBackupSet -DeleteOldest -BackupTarget G:\ -Force
To delete all backup sets on drive G:, type:
Get-WBBackupSet -BackupTarget G:\ Remove-WBBackupSet -Force
To delete a specific backup set by its ID, type:
Remove-WBBackupSet -BackupSet (Get-WBBackupSet -BackupTarget G:\ Where-Object $_.ID -eq "f9a0c0a3-7d6e-4f8a-bc3f-9d0b7c96f2dc") -Force
Note that Remove-WBBackupSet does not allow you to delete system state backups individually. If you want to delete them, you need to use the Remove-WBSystemStateBackup cmdlet.
Conclusion
In this article, we have shown you how to delete old backups created by Windows Server Backup using different methods. You can use automatic disk usage management, Wbadmin command line, or PowerShell cmdlets to free up space on your backup disk and avoid backup failures. However, these methods have some limitations and drawbacks, such as not being able to delete specific kinds of backups, not working for external hard drives, or requiring complex commands. If you want a more flexible and reliable way to backup and restore your server data, you may consider using a professional server backup software, such as [AOMEI Backupper Server]. It can help you backup and restore your system, disk, partition, file, or application with ease. It also allows you to manage your backup disk space automatically or manually by deleting old backups based on your settings. It supports various backup destinations, such as internal or external hard drives, network shares, NAS devices, or cloud drives. It also offers many advanced features, such as incremental and differential backup, encryption and compression, email notification, schedule backup, and more. You can download the free trial and try it yourself.
References:
[Windows Server Backup Delete Old Backups 3 Ways]
[How to Delete Windows Server Backups on Server 2016/2012]
[How to Stop Windows Server Backup (WSB) in 2 Ways]
[Remove-WBBackupSet (WindowsServerBackup)]
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