I can’t empty the trash on my Mac running Catalina

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Level 1

11 points

I can’t empty the trash on my Mac running Catalina

Any ideas? I have tried doing it with: sudo rm -R and although it goes through the motions the files are still there after. The main culprits are a backup of my old Mac.

iMac 21.5", macOS 10.15

Posted on Oct 31, 2019 8:35 AM

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Answer 1

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macjack

Level 10

111,242 points

Oct 31, 2019 10:49 AM in response to bbc0

The TM files aren't in the Trash of your internal disk but stuck in the Trash of your external disk. You'll notice that if you disconnect your external disk the files will vanish from your Trash, but if you reconnect the drive they will appear again.

This from the most comprehensive site for Time Machine (now dated but still relevent)

https://www.baligu.com/pondini/TM/E6.html

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Answer 2

bbc0 Author

Level 1

11 points

Oct 31, 2019 11:39 AM in response to macjack

Thanks for the help :) I reformatted the TM and everything seems to be ok now.

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Answer 3

macjack

Level 10

111,242 points

Oct 31, 2019 8:37 AM in response to bbc0

If you attempted to delete Time Machine files via Finder they will always get stuck in the Trash. The fastest and easiest way to sort it is to wipe your TM disk and start over.

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