Can't empty trash—file(s) in use.

[Barkerductions]

I've been backing up my system folder onto an external drive for some time now, and I received the notice my drive was full, which I didn't understand because MacKeeper is supposed to over-wright older files, which it didn't. So I trashed a bunch of older folders. When I attempted to empty the trash I got the message that certain files were in use and could not be deleted. It turns out, backing up the system folder is a bad idea. I'll correct that; however, my problem is I have lots and lots of system folders in the trash that I can't delete. Can anyone offer any help? They're taking up mucho disk space. Thanks in advance.

 

[Slydude]

Backing up the System folder isn't necessarily a bad idea but it has to be done correctly. In fact, Carbon Copy Cloner, SuperDuper, and Time Machine all work for this though they do things a bit differently. I haven't used Clean My Mac so I won't speculate on how well it might work for that.

If these files are from copies of the System folder on your boot drive that might be the reason they are showing up as "in use" as far as the system is concerned.

Do you have another drive that you can boot from? You might be able to boot from that and delete the problem files.

 

[harryb2448]

You should have trashed Mackeeper as it is 100% malware and serves no proper purpose on any computer.

It can be the very devil to remove as it plants files everywhere.


https://www.macworld.com/article/28...how-to-uninstall-mackeeper-from-your-mac.html

 

[chscag]

Welcome to our forums.

Here is our advice:

MacKeeper = Snake Oil

Get rid of it!

Sorry to be so subtle and direct but MacKeeper is the absolute worse thing you can have on your Mac.