jetto33

Q: no trash in trash

When I delete a file and send it to the trash - it doesn't appear in the trash.  There is never anything in the trash but if I delete a file it goes somewhere and it disappears.  Trash will also not let me empty the trash.  I also am trying to delete Microsoft Silverlight and am having no success so I think it is in the trash.  I have run CleanMyMac with no success. Help

iMac (27-inch Mid 2010), OS X Mavericks (10.9.1)

Posted on Jan 21, 2014 8:56 AM

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Q: no trash in trash

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  • by Strawb268,

    Strawb268 Strawb268 Jan 21, 2014 9:12 AM in response to jetto33
    Level 4 (1,457 points)
    Jan 21, 2014 9:12 AM in response to jetto33

    Are you deleting things like photos and mail? - both Mail and iPhoto have their own trash.

     

    You MAY have answered your own question - Clean My Mac may be the culprit.  Strongly advide do not use third party cleanup or antivirus software on a Mac - it is likely to cause rather than resolve problems!

  • by jetto33,

    jetto33 jetto33 Jan 21, 2014 10:52 AM in response to Strawb268
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 21, 2014 10:52 AM in response to Strawb268

    No I do not delete photo or mail in the general trash.  This all started before installing Clean My Mac and prior to installing Maverick.  During mountain lion.  Just assumed i had something switched on that I shouldn't have.  I have now changed as many settings as I can find to change and no trash.  I have another user on my mac which I do not use and the trash works on that user.  Thats how I am pretty sure trash is in there somewhere.  

  • by John Galt,

    John Galt John Galt Jan 21, 2014 2:00 PM in response to jetto33
    Level 8 (49,221 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jan 21, 2014 2:00 PM in response to jetto33

    jetto33 wrote:

     

    ...  Trash will also not let me empty the trash. 

     

    That implies Trash contains something. Does it?

     

    If so, can you drag files out of the Trash, or, select them then select Put Back from the File menu?

  • by jetto33,

    jetto33 jetto33 Jan 21, 2014 2:59 PM in response to jetto33
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 21, 2014 2:59 PM in response to jetto33

    Everytime I put something in the trash it dissapears from my desktop but is not in the trash.  The empty trash button is not available to me.  The trash is always empty no matter how much I put in it. 

  • by John Galt,

    John Galt John Galt Jan 21, 2014 3:10 PM in response to jetto33
    Level 8 (49,221 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jan 21, 2014 3:10 PM in response to jetto33

    Go to the Finder - click anywhere on your Mac's desktop, and choose File > New Folder.

     

    If a folder appears on your Desktop then continue reading. If not, stop reading.

     

    Open Terminal - it is in your Utilities folder and looks like this

     

    Screen Shot 2013-02-15 at 2.14.19 PM.png

     

    You can find Terminal by using the Finder's Go menu and choosing Utilities, then double-click the Terminal icon.

     

    Copy (drag or triple-click to select the line) and Paste the following commands into the Terminal window, each one followed by the Return key:

     

    mkdir ~/.Trash

     

    If you get the message "File exists" you can ignore it.

     

    Next Copy and Paste the following line, followed by the Return key:

     

    sudo chown $UID ~/.Trash

     

    This time Terminal will ask for your Admin password - the same one you use when you log in to your Mac. Type it and then press the Return key. What you type will not appear, not even with •••• characters.

     

    Next Copy and Paste the following:

     

    chmod u+rwx ~/.Trash

     

    To summarize the above you will be doing this:

     

    Last login: Wed Feb 12 03:21:53 on ttys000

    Johns-iMac:~ john$ mkdir ~/.Trash

    mkdir: /Users/john/.Trash: File exists

    Johns-iMac:~ john$ sudo chown $UID ~/.Trash

    Password:    (type your password then press Return)

    Johns-iMac:~ john$ chmod u+rwx ~/.Trash

    Johns-iMac:~ john$

     

    You will be typing the entries in red exactly as shown.

     

    Quit Terminal.

     

    Drag the empty folder you just created to the Trash, confirm that it appears in the Trash, and that you can empty the Trash.


  • by jetto33,

    jetto33 jetto33 Jan 22, 2014 8:45 AM in response to jetto33
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 22, 2014 8:45 AM in response to jetto33

    I copied and pasted  the: mkdir ~/.Trash

         return ;  then sudo chown $UID ~/.Trash

         return; my password return

              then it says "No such file or directory"

         return: chnid u+rwx~/.Trash

    Quit terminal-threw out the unused new folder.

     

    Nothing in the trash!!!

     

    Thanks for trying

     



  • by John Galt,

    John Galt John Galt Jan 22, 2014 9:38 AM in response to jetto33
    Level 8 (49,221 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jan 22, 2014 9:38 AM in response to jetto33

    If the result of creating the ~/.Trash directory did not return "File exists", yet changing its ownership resulted in "No such file or directory" then your User account is corrupted to an extent that I am unable to determine. In that case I can only suggest transferring your essential files to the account that it not corrupted, and deleting the corrupted one.

     

    Never use CleanMyMac or anything like it in an attempt to address inexplicable problems. I understand the problem occurred prior to using it, but the effects of having used it will make additional troubleshooting difficult at best. Using ill-conceived programs such as CleanMyMac to remove essential files or components of them it arbitrarily determines are not required will result in system corruption. For that reason, I recommend erasing your Mac completely, and restoring it from a backup created prior to the onset of the problem.