Error code 8003

I deleted some back ups from Drop Box which went into trash. Now I cannot empty my trash. I get error code 8003. I have read up about it but none of the fixes appear to work.

kittywee said:

I deleted some back ups from Drop Box which went into trash. Now I cannot empty my trash. I get error code 8003. I have read up about it but none of the fixes appear to work.

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Hi Kitty... - I had a similar problem on my iMac w/ 3 items in the Trash which were left over from an iStats update - there were 3 files that had multiple sub-directories and the usual terminal commands, i.e. 'rm' & 'rmdir' did not seem to help.

I then tried the command “sudo rm -rf iStat*" (w/o the quotes) in the Trash directory - seemed to work for me (one reference HERE) - now I did not get the 8003 code - you probably have already found these suggestions and tried - but let us know? Dave

Error Code 8003

Thanks but I already tried that. I cannot open it in Finder, it automatically goes to "Empty trash securely" and shows it in folders. I will take a screen shot and see if I can attach it later.

Error 8003

Whatever I try this is the screen I get.

Open Terminal. Type in sudo rm -rf .Trash/*.*
It will ask for your password. You're login password.
You wont see it being typed in but it's there.
Be very careful typing that in. A mistake can be dangerous. Copy paste works great.

Error Code 8003

I have done that but it states Jennifer is not in the sudoers file. This incident will be reported Macintosh - 212 Jennifer$.

Next question from this silly old woman. If I go back on Time Machine to before I deleted these items from Dropbox, will they disappear from the trash?
Also what happens if I just go on putting stuff into trash and never emptying it? I think I have plenty of space.

AH... you need to be an Admin to do that. Do you have an admin account?
Time Machine? No idea.
You can still delete stuff, it just wont delete those folders/files.
What happens when you hold down Option and select Empty Trash in the menubar?

Error Code 8003

I am the administrator and I have tried it under that password - nothing.
Also, I cannot delete other items I have put in trash since the problem and nothing will delete, it just comes up with the same error.
Thanks anyway.

kittywee said:

I am the administrator and I have tried it under that password - nothing.
Also, I cannot delete other items I have put in trash since the problem and nothing will delete, it just comes up with the same error.
Thanks anyway.

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Hi again Kitty... - just to be sure that you performed the terminal command correctly, see the attached screen capture which shows my opened terminal window projecting over your message in the forum - steps taken: 1) the terminal opened in my home directory indicated by the ~; 2) I changed to the trash directory which is 'hidden' hence the need to use a period first; and 3) now in the trash directory, the command shown should remove those folders starting w/ 2011, hence the used of the *

As stated by Craig, you should be asked for your Admin PW first - let us know if this is indeed what you did (several different ways of course of performing this maneuver) - Dave

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Have you tried a restart? Sometimes that frees up files that wont trash.

Now when I open terminal this is what happens. It is definitely my correct admin password.

First off there's no space between the period and Trash. That will give an error.
Second, If you are indeed an admin I don't know why it wont take your password.
Make sure capslock isn't on.

cradom said:

First off there's no space between the period and Trash. That will give an error.
Second, If you are indeed an admin I don't know why it wont take your password.
Make sure capslock isn't on.

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@ Kitty... - yep, needs to be ".Trash" (w/o quotes) - also please check in System Preferences -> Users & Groups - there check your accounts and their type, especially the one named 'Jennifer' to see if it is an Admin one? See my screen capture below showing my name (last blocked out in blue) and the 'Admin' listed. Dave
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How To Fix Error Code 8003 OS X - Easy PC Tutorials
What we've tried plus some extra.

Thank you everyone for your help and interest. Going to the Admin Jennifer account did not work either, but then there was no trash in that account! I read the Tutorial and ejected the TMBEE back up portion of my WD Drive as this was where the folders came from originally. Trash magically emptied!
When all else fails read the instructions!

kittywee said:

Thank you everyone for your help and interest. Going to the Admin Jennifer account did not work either, but then there was no trash in that account! I read the Tutorial and ejected the TMBEE back up portion of my WD Drive as this was where the folders came from originally. Trash magically emptied!
When all else fails read the instructions!

Click to expand...

Hi again and CONGRATS! Yep, I saw those mounted drives (arrows in cropped image below) on your previous pic and was going to ask about them, but forgot! - Dave
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Wait, these were from another drive? Originally you said they were from Dropbox.
Ejecting the other drive will remove the items from Trash, HOWEVER, when you mount the drives again the files will be back in the Trash.
So, you haven't really solved your problem.