Can't Empty Trash

I can't empty the trash. I have tried several times, but it is full of recovered files and and every time it sarts to empty there are over 7000 items and it never finishes emptying, even over hrs

Hmmm…??? How did over 7000 recovered files end up in the Trash in the first place??

Make sure your'e not using the "secure" empty Trash, and maybe try holding the option key and then empty your Trash.

If you are sure you want these deleted, then open Terminal in your Applications Folder, and copy and paste this into the Terminal Window Now hit return.
You will be asked for your password, so type it in (it won't show what your typing, because this is a security feature of Terminal, so make sure you type it correctly) and when you have hit Return again.
Some times Trash will hang and won't empty so this is a neat way of accomplishing emptying it.

TattooedMac said:

If you are sure you want these deleted, then open Terminal in your Applications Folder, and copy and paste this into the Terminal Window

Code:

 sudo rm -rf ~/.Trash/*

Now hit return.
You will be asked for your password, so type it in (it won't show what your typing, because this is a security feature of Terminal, so make sure you type it correctly) and when you have hit Return again.
Some times Trash will hang and won't empty so this is a neat way of accomplishing emptying it.

Click to expand...

7000 items might fail. if it does, you'd have to use find and run the output through exec.

I'm still curious as to why you would have 7000+ recovered files in the Trash in the first place. It is my understanding that these are temporary files created by apps and are usually deleted when the app is closed (Quit). For example if I Force Mail to Quit because it is unresponsive then there will be a few recovered files in my trash because mail did not have a chance to delete them as it did not quit in the usual way.
So is this large number due to some other problem? If so this problem needs to be addressed or the same issue will occur again.

I too, cannot empty the trash... I have a new macbook pro and it simply WILL NOT empty anything I put in the trash. Please help me.

Did you try the Terminal command above? It should. basically, force everything out of your trash.

Or have you even tried Restarting or Shutting down your Mac and re-booting and then trying to empty the Trash?

Perhapes, although it's hard to relate repairing permissions and verifying the hard drive may be worth a try. After a backup of course but it seems something else is happening for so many recovered files to be there in the first place. Emptying trash is a pretty basic function but it is reliant on proper indexing for the trash bin to locate the files.

I think we have two users here with a similar problem but under different circumstances, so it's probably going to be hard to get both resolved easily.

Maybe Lady Mac might like to create a new subject thread with some details for their problem???

Ok, I'm still trying to learn how to use this new Macbook pro as I've just made the switch. So please be patient with me... I can't find terminal.

Right, found it, did as suggested and it could not find or accept my password! Typed Ctrl-C to abort and it said control not found... so now what?

...and yes, it DID show what I typed so naturally I cannot copy and paste what is written for all to see my password.

Ok, blonde moment... I didn't even look at the trashcan! Yes, it is now empty! All said though, I'm none the wiser as to WHY it was refusing to empty. Can anyone explain to me for future reference? And hey guys, thank you ever so much... I switched to challenge my brain, so no doubt I'll return again! PLUR x

Well that's one bit of good news, now I wonder how the OP made out as I haven't seen another post from them other than their original one…???

And still a lot of unanswered questions on that one. :Blushing:

Lady Mac said:

Can anyone explain to me for future reference?

Click to expand...

It's hard to know without an error message but more than likely, it's because something was still referring to a file in the Trash so it couldn't be deleted (for example, you had a document open in Word that was in the Trash). Often times, the easiest solution is to simply log out and back in to effectively close everything that might be blocking the emptying.

I just went through the drama of fake virus, download highly popular/reputable 'MacKeeper', nearly paying for more software when they couldn't access remotely, told that Apple warrants DO NOT cover operating system problems even though I paid for an extra 3 years of Apple care... Is this tale really true? Anyhow, I (belatedly) researched further and subsequently deleted MacKeeper and it's kling-ons but am left wondering now, what IS the best way to protect and clean and maintain my new MacBook Pro?

Onyx is the only cleaning/maintenance tool you need for Mac, and it's free.

Titanium Software - Home

Run it once every 6 months to a year on the default settings and you'll be fine. Make sure you get the version for your version of OS X.

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Thanks for the tip! I had the same problem (trash not emptying) and yes, I was using the Secure Empty Trash...don't know why......now I just klicked Empty trash and it all went away. Thanks!

Yes, great that Lady Mac's problem resolved, you sure don't get much feedback from Terminal, kinda the strong silent type of Apple applications. I did once have a client who had never emptied his Trash. Had less than 10% storage and I was scratching my head trying to find where it had all gone. He had 170Gb of data in Trash.