- #TERMINAL FORCE EMPTY TRASH FOR MAC#
- #TERMINAL FORCE EMPTY TRASH PASSWORD#
- #TERMINAL FORCE EMPTY TRASH MAC#
You can force empty trash on Mac for good with the help of Terminal. However, if you still want the item to be removed permanently, it can be done! There can be many reasons for the same, the item deleted could still be in use or locked or maybe the item has a special character.
#TERMINAL FORCE EMPTY TRASH FOR MAC#
You’ll want to be aware of what you’re deleting and know in advance that you won’t be able to recover anything removed using these methods.Sometimes you want to delete data permanently from your Mac, but the data seems too important for Mac that it doesn’t delete it permanently. It could be that a file is held up because it really is still in use and you don’t want to lose it or that you’ve accidentally chucked into the Trash a pile of system files necessary for OS X to function. Hopefully next time you run into this common annoyance, you’ll be better prepared to deal with it.Īlways make sure you’re 100% comfortable deleting the files in your Trash before you move forward with any of these methods. We tried out a handful of Terminal commands and even a third-party app that should do the trick if the OS X Trash seems really stuck. It may take Trash It! a few moments depending on how large of a job it’s facing, so be patient.Īuthenticate with a password, and then give Trash It! a few moments to get the job done.
#TERMINAL FORCE EMPTY TRASH PASSWORD#
Trash It asks for password authentication to move forward. The best bet for a new user is to try Fast first, but if that doesn’t work, move on to Really Stuck. Launch Trash It! and select one of the two deletion options, Fast or Really Stuck. Trash It! can pretty much clear anything out. If you’re not used to working with the command line, you have to be careful, because if you end up in the wrong directory, you could delete a lot of good files that you really need.įor users who aren’t comfortable taking Trash deletion into their own hands with Terminal commands, the safety of a third-party application may be what’s called for. I don’t even need to use the cd command to get into the Trash directory first!ĭrag the file onto the Terminal window to get the file's path and name. Hitting ENTER now will delete the file completely. Then I'll drag the file into the Terminal window to get the filepath. Tip: Once I’ve identified the file jamming up Trash, I'll type rm into Terminal, but don’t hit ENTER yet. I don’t want to do that in a directory that contains personal files or system files. I’ll want to be absolutely sure I'm in my Trash directory for that command, because it’s going to burn the fields and salt the earth, taking all of my files with it. Then delete everything in Trash using this command: rm -rf * Again, change the directory to Trash using the cd command in Terminal from above. If that didn’t work, we’re going to need to try a little harder. Unlock all of the Trash files in Terminal. Now I'll try to empty the Trash from either the Dock or the Finder menu (Finder > Empty Trash). Once in the Trash, I'll paste the following into Terminal and hit ENTER: chflags -R nouchg * I'll open Terminal, and get into the Trash directory by entering the following: cd ~/.Trash I've got locked Trash files, but I don't know which they are. The first Terminal command to try makes the Trash files editable, hopefully freeing them up to be deleted.
Most of us have tried to empty our Trash, only to be brought up short by a file that’s locked or in use. If you're not comfortable in Terminal or just don't want to go to the trouble of entering the individual commands, Trash It! may be your solution, and we'll briefly walk through it at the end. While most of this tutorial deals with Terminal commands to solve Trash problems, Trash It! is a nice app for getting the same job done without using the command line. When we're done, you'll be able to tackle any problem the OS X Trash throws your way. For users who are not comfortable doing that, though, I’ll also use a dead simple app that will get rid of any problem files or folders in the Trash. In this tutorial, I’ll look at several ways to force the Trash to empty using the command line in Terminal. Even if I identify the problem, it’s not always easy or even possible to fix without a lot of effort. This can be incredibly frustrating, especially if I'm not sure why it’s happening. Just about everybody has tried, at one time or another, to empty their OS X Trash and received an alert that the Trash couldn’t be emptied, usually for an opaque reason that's not well explained.
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