Command Delete Keyboard Shortcut changed

Command-option-delete will do the trick.

The change isn't the default, it's that the "delete" no longer has a blue surround now, which means you can't press space to activate it. You can tab to the other option, if you enable that in Systme Prefs/Keyboard/Keyboard Shortcuts/Full Keyboard Access/All Controls. But it's still rubbish.

The change happened with 10.6.0, by the way. Annoying, isn't it?

Well, your settings must be different from mine.

When I select a file and press "Command-Delete," I don't get any warning box at all -- the file just instantly jumps into the Trash. That's because when it's in the Trash, the file still exists until I consciously "Empty Trash." It is then, and only then, that I get a warning dialog allowing me to finish Emptying Trash or Cancel. But with my setup (also 10.6.4), the default button is still "Empty Trash,
rather than "Cancel."

I remember reading long ago about the beginnings of Apple's icon-based GUI that the "Trash" was originally though of as not the "garbage can" but rather a holding zone or safety area where a file still exists but it can't do anything. Only later when the concept of the "Finder" as a "desktop" metaphor was finalized was the holding zone re-dubbed the "Trash."

But ever since I read that long ago, I've never really thought of the Trash as the place where things go to instant deletion, but rather is a like a "waiting room" where things are i+n line for future deletion+ , which only happens when one chooses the dreaded "Empty Trash."

What it sounds like, from your description, is that the files you are moving to the "Trash" safety zone are in fact being instantly deleted. Have you turned on some setting along the lines of "Immediately delete all items moved to Trash"? Otherwise, I can't understand how you get that warning message. Nor do I know why the default button moved from "Delete" to "Cancel."

Then again, I'm no expert -- that's just my two cents!

Ah! That jump is interesting. It happens to me too, but only when I'm deleting a folder from an AFP share on my Netgear ReadyNAS. Anywhere/anything else, it does the right thing and stays where it should.

Where is it happening to you?

Wayn0 wrote:
I've just checked and indeed the file isn't going into the Trash but being deleted altogether.

My oh my, that is very strange. I've been using Macs for a looooong time too, and I've never seen that!

There must be some secret setting that's been turned "on" in your computer that somehow gives the command "Immediately delete all items as they are placed into the Trash." However, I have no idea where such a setting might be.

In my experience, hitting "Command-Delete" always places items into the "Trash," where they only become actually "deleted" after you consciously select "Empty Trash."

Keep in mind that this all just a graphical metaphor, and that no files are actually being physically placed anywhere; the act of "moving them to the Trash" is simply a visual way of representing what really happens, which I assume must be that the file is given an extra descriptor or tag along the lines of, "The next time the 'Empty Trash' command is given, this file shall be deleted."

But that isn't happening on your computer. Instead of having the file being placed in line for possible future deletion, it is instantly deleted. I have no idea why -- it'll be up to some more expert users here to explain the mystery.

This is normal in some conditions (which I believe apply here) - if you delete from a network share, there is no trash so files get deleted directly.

Which is why the warning panel comes up in the first place.

Here's my situation re Delete, which changed when I migrated from my MacBook to a MacBook Pro, same system, same everything.
In Finder, when I Command-Delete, the box comes up and asks if I want to Cancel or Delete permanently, with the default on Cancel. Pressing "D" does not select Delete, which works in other programs.
When I Command-Option-Delete, it skips the box and deletes permanently.
When I drag a folder to the Trash on the dock, it does the same thing - the box appears with the Cancel/Delete option. When I open the Trash Window and drag the file into it, it asks does the same.
In no case can I get Trash to "hold" a folder or file.

This is very annoying, since I use my trash to "organize" things. It seems that the usefulness of having a trash holding spot has been completely eliminated. What setting is causing this? I can't find anything in System Preferences or elsewhere.

Fredericch

Thanks for the link. I followed the three steps, discovered that I did not have a trash, but still nothing would go in the trash bin. I started the first step again and noticed that the "locked" toggle was checked. I unlocked it and now the trash is working normally.

Many thanks for the lead.

You have mucked up settings. See http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/trash.html for details.

You're welcome.