200GB unused, but can't change APFS container size due to minimum requirement

Question

I want to create a partition with a different filesystem but in order to do that I need to resize my APFS container.

This container has 292,4 GB used space. Its minimum size is 500,07 GB. This container cannot be split because the resulting containers would be too small.

What I tried

From "How to Resize Your APFS Container on macOS High Sierra"

diskutil list

Output:

/dev/disk0 (internal, physical):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *500.3 GB   disk0
   1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk0s1
   2:                 Apple_APFS Container disk1         500.1 GB   disk0s2

/dev/disk1 (synthesized):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      APFS Container Scheme -                      +500.1 GB   disk1
                                 Physical Store disk0s2
   1:                APFS Volume Macintosh HD            288.3 GB   disk1s1
   2:                APFS Volume Preboot                 43.9 MB    disk1s2
   3:                APFS Volume Recovery                512.3 MB   disk1s3
   4:                APFS Volume VM                      3.2 GB     disk1s4

/dev/disk2 (disk image):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        +1.9 TB     disk2
   1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk2s1
   2:                  Apple_HFS Time Machine Backups    1.9 TB     disk2s2

Then:

sudo diskutil apfs resizeContainer disk0s2 450g

Or:

sudo diskutil apfs resizeContainer disk0s2 450g jhfs+ Extra 50g

Output:

Aligning shrink delta to 50.068.037.632 bytes and targeting a new physical store size of 449.999.998.976 bytes
Determined the minimum size for the targeted physical store of this APFS Container to be 500.068.036.608 bytes
Error: -69521: Your APFS Container resize request is below the APFS-system-imposed minimal container size (perhaps caused by APFS Snapshot usage by Time Machine)

(perhaps caused by APFS Snapshot usage by Time Machine)

I have removed all local time machine snapshots but I am still getting the same output.

How do I change a APFS container's minimum size?

Answer 1

Again, yes, you have deleted all the local snapshots. But you clearly have an external Time Machine drive. And Time Machine snapshots (local or remote) place certain requirements on the source drive. From man tmutil:

BACKUP STRUCTURE
     Throughout this manual, specific language is used to describe particular
     "realms" associated with Time Machine backups. It is important to under-
     stand this terminology to make effective use of tmutil and its manual.

     backup source
             A volume currently being backed up by Time Machine.

     backup disk
             The HFS+ volume that contains Time Machine backups.

     backup destination
             In the case of a local destination, a synonym for backup disk.
             For network destinations, this is the AFP or SMB share on which
             the backup disk image resides.

     backup disk image (or backup image)
             A sparsebundle that, when mounted, is the backing store for a
             volume that is a backup disk.

     backup store
             The top-level "Backups.backupdb" directory at the root of a
             backup disk. E.g.,

             /Volumes/Chronoton/Backups.backupdb

     machine directory
             A directory inside a backup store that contains all the backups
             for a particular computer. For local destinations, a backup store
             can contain multiple machine directories, all for separate com-
             puters. E.g.,

             /Volumes/Chronoton/Backups.backupdb/thermopylae

--

Remember the error?

E.g., (perhaps caused by APFS Snapshot usage by Time Machine)?

Read this one:

---

     snapshot
             A directory inside a machine directory that represents a single
             initial or incremental backup of one computer. The word "snap-
             shot", in most contexts, is a generic term and is not to be con-
             fused with a "local Time Machine snapshot", which is simply a
             snapshot stored locally on the computer. E.g.,

             /Volumes/Chronoton/Backups.backupdb/thermopylae/2011-07-03-123456

---

     snapshot volume
             A directory inside a snapshot that represents a single initial or
             incremental backup of one backup source. E.g.,

             /Volumes/Chronoton/Backups.backupdb/thermopy-
             lae/2011-07-03-123456/Mac HD

VERBS
     Each verb is listed with its description and individual arguments.

     destinationinfo [-X]
             Print information about destinations currently configured for use
             with Time Machine. For each backup destination, the following
             information may be displayed:

             with Time Machine. For each backup destination, the following
             information may be displayed:

                 Name          The volume label as shown in Finder.
                 Kind          Whether the destination is locally attached
                               storage or a network device.
                 URL           In the case of a network destination, the URL
                               used for Time Machine configuration.
                 Mount Point   If the volume is currently mounted, the path in
                               the file system at which it was mounted.
                 ID            The unique identifier for the destination.

             When more than one destination is configured, the most recent
             backup destination will be marked with the > indicator.

             When the -X option is provided, output will be printed in XML
             property list format.

     removedestination identifier
             Remove the destination with the specified unique identifier from
             the Time Machine configuration. Requires root privileges.

             To obtain the unique identifier for a destination, see
             destinationinfo.

---

A. The error:

Error: -69521: Your APFS Container resize request is below the APFS-system-imposed minimal container size (perhaps caused by APFS Snapshot usage by Time Machine)

B. Your response:

I have removed all local time machine snapshots but I am still getting the same output.

C. The documentation:

The word "snapshot", in most contexts, is a generic term and is not to be confused with a "local Time Machine snapshot".

Capisce?

---

Yes, you have deleted all your local snapshots. But you also have another backup drive. In the example you linked, there was no such drive.

You need to remove all Time Machine backups stores, disable all destinations, etc. You can reassociate your backups later. But following this, you should be fine; worst case, decrypt your drive too (APFS encryption is complicated and has a lot of overhead due to the drive-key/user-key system).

Answer 2

Some commands to try:

This lists the snapshots for a disk. And it will say which snapshot limits the minimum size of APFS Container diskX:

diskutil ap listSnapshots /Volumes/Macintosh\ HD

Then you can delete the snapshots:

tmutil deletelocalsnapshots /Volumes/Macintosh\ HD

Then enable defragment (a totally unforecable automated process):

diskutil ap defragment /Volumes/Macintosh\ HD enable

It might take a few minutes before Disk Utility changes the minimum size requirement so you can resize the APFS volume. (/Volumes above may need to be /Volume on your system).

It also works on an external drive or volume too, even if it's not the one booted from.

Answer 3

If you are shrink you main volume, open 'Boot Camp Assistant', click 'Continue' and it will be stuck for a while and go error. Then quit it and you should be able to shrink.

I think it was doing some reclamation, but I don't know if there is a more direct method.