When I delete files from a flash drive which is FAT 32 formatted it doesn't free up the memory that those files held. But when I delete them using a windows PC it does free up the memory. Is this normal? Is there a way to do it on a Mac?
Deleting files from flash drive
- Thread starter sktikari
- Start date
- Joined
- Jul 24, 2008
- Messages
- 6,003
- Reaction score
- 125
- Points
- 63
- Your Mac's Specs
- MBP 2.3 Ghz 4GB RAM 860 GB SSD, iMac 3.4 GHz Intel Core i7 32GB RAM, Fusion Drive 1TB
Did you empty the trash can?
- Joined
- Jul 18, 2007
- Messages
- 3,184
- Reaction score
- 93
- Points
- 48
- Location
- Central California
- Your Mac's Specs
- 2.16GHz C2D MacBook w/ 2GB RAM & 120GB HD. HTC Droid Incredible.
You have to drag the files to the trash can then empty the trash can for the files to be deleted off the flash drive.
- Joined
- Nov 28, 2007
- Messages
- 25,564
- Reaction score
- 486
- Points
- 83
- Location
- Blue Mountains NSW Australia
- Your Mac's Specs
- Silver M1 iMac 512/16/8/8 macOS 11.6
As Eric says drag to trash and empty whilst the flash drive is still attached.. Otherwise you are just dragging them out of the trash and leaving them on the drive. Same system with Windows.
- Joined
- Feb 13, 2005
- Messages
- 1,186
- Reaction score
- 73
- Points
- 48
- Location
- New Orleans, LA, USA
- Your Mac's Specs
- 13" Macbook Pro 2.26Ghz Unibody 4G RAM 160G HDD Superdrive
Which is why when dealing with stuff on external media such as flash drives and such, I usually drop down to a Terminal, CD to the /Volumes/whatever-drive-it-is and do an explicit rm to bypass the trash.
I know a lot of Mac users wouldn't bother with that option, however.
I know a lot of Mac users wouldn't bother with that option, however.
Shop Amazon
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites.