Deleting .Trash Cache files from a Mac OS X

[Kirisuna]

I'm having difficulty removing deleted Trash files from my Mac.
I copied them onto an external hard drive then attempted to deleted the originals from my Mac, but I am now stuck with the same files registering as backups. They take up most of my hard drive and a way to permanently remove these files would be hugely appreciated. I have located the files under the hidden folder .Trash but because they are backups my Mac won't allow them to be permanently deleted.

 

[ron4mac]

It's a little difficult to understand exactly what your situation is. Normal trash usage is that you move an item to the trash and, when you feel the need to, you empty the trash, permanently deleting items that had been in the trash. In what way is your situation differing from from that?

 

[MacInWin]

Also, the .trash files are hidden because there isn't any reason for a user to interact with them. They hold the data about the files deleted until the trash is emptied, at which time the .trash file is cleaned up as well. By moving them, you may well have created a state where the files in that .trash file were deleted, but the .trash file not updated because you moved it. Now the system is confused because the actual state of the drive and the state as shown in the .trash file do not match.

 

[Kirisuna]

I don't quite know what is happening apart from the fact there is an unmodified .Trash folder that is taking up over 200GB of space and contains my deleted files. The files cannot be accessed or modified by me and I need the hard drive space.

 

[ron4mac]

See if the information here will help you:
Force empty that stubborn trash bin in OS X - CNET

 

[MacInWin]

NOTE: IF you follow the suggestion in the article ron4mac posted, you will need to change the terminal commands to point to where you have moved the .trashes files. Be careful, rm is a very powerful command.

 

[Kirisuna]

Thank you both of you for your help. It was much appreciated and my Mac problem is now solved. I'm so happy to have all of that space back!

 

[harryb2448]

Well share it so others will know!