MuntashirAkon/AppManager · error · BackupException

Could not delete the selected backups

Error message

Could not delete the selected backups

What it means

In deleteBackup(), once metadata is read, non-frozen backup items are deleted via backupItem.delete(); if that returns false the method throws BackupException('Could not delete the selected backups'). It means the filesystem refused the delete (returns false, not an exception), typically due to permissions or a frozen/read-only backup.

Source

Thrown at app/src/main/java/io/github/muntashirakon/AppManager/backup/BackupManager.java:159

        } else {
            backupItemList = new ArrayList<>(options.relativeDirs.length);
            for (String relativeDir : options.relativeDirs) {
                try {
                    backupItemList.add(BackupItems.findBackupItem(relativeDir));
                } catch (IOException e) {
                    throw new BackupException("Could not get backup files.", e);
                }
            }
        }
        for (BackupItems.BackupItem backupItem : backupItemList) {
            BackupMetadataV5 metadata;
            try {
                metadata = backupItem.getMetadata();
            } catch (IOException e) {
                throw new BackupException("Could not retrieve metadata from backup.", e);
            }
            if (!backupItem.isFrozen() && !backupItem.delete()) {
                throw new BackupException("Could not delete the selected backups");
            }
            BackupUtils.deleteBackupToDbAndBroadcast(ContextUtils.getContext(), metadata);
        }
    }

    public void verify(@NonNull String relativeDir) throws BackupException {
        BackupItems.BackupItem backupItem;
        try {
            backupItem = BackupItems.findBackupItem(relativeDir);
        } catch (IOException e) {
            throw new BackupException("Could not get backup files.", e);
        }
        try (VerifyOp restoreOp = new VerifyOp(backupItem)) {
            restoreOp.verify();
        }
    }

    private static int calculateMaxProgress(@NonNull BackupFlags backupFlags) {

View on GitHub (pinned to 0152f468fc)

Solutions

1. Check mount state and re-mount storage read-write, then retry the delete.
2. Grant the app storage/All-files-access permission and retry.
3. If files are root-owned, delete them with a root shell or fix ownership first.
4. If the backup is intentionally frozen, unfreeze it or remove the frozen entry via the appropriate path (frozen items are skipped by this code).

Example fix

// before
if (!backupItem.isFrozen() && !backupItem.delete()) {
    throw new BackupException("Could not delete the selected backups");
}
// after
if (!backupItem.isFrozen()) {
    if (!backupItem.delete()) {
        Log.w(TAG, "delete failed, is dir read-only? " + backupItem.getDir());
        // fallback: recursive delete via File API / root shell
    }
}

File d = new File(backupRoot, relDir);
if (!d.canWrite()) {
    throw new IllegalStateException("Backup dir not writable: " + d);
}

boolean backupDeletable(String relDir) {
    File d = new File(backupRoot, relDir);
    return d.isDirectory() && d.canWrite();
}

try {
    manager.deleteBackup(options);
} catch (BackupException e) {
    if (e.getMessage().contains("Could not delete")) {
        // check storage permissions / read-only mount, then retry
    }
}

When it happens

Trigger: deleteBackup() on an unfrozen BackupItem whose delete() returns false — e.g. files on read-only storage, root-owned files, or filesystem-level denial.

Common situations: Backups on a read-only mounted volume; SAF/storage-permission revocation after OS update; backup files owned by root after a root-shell operation; files locked by another process.

Understand the failure class

Background: "failed to write file", "Could not save figure", "Error saving remote file" — file write failed: causes and fixes across languages and libraries — this error's family across 38 libraries.

Related errors

• Could not create directory ${dataSourceFile}
• Could not retrieve metadata from backup.
• An uninstallation was necessary but couldn't perform it.
• Could not create package staging directory
• Failed to restore the KeyStore files.

AI-assisted analysis of MuntashirAkon/AppManager@0152f468fc (2026-09-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/816b1d1d72bb1294. Report an issue: GitHub.