My trash can (containing a mere 4 items) will not empty. I have tried the sudo command in Terminal, was prompted for password, but cannot enter it. I am running Catalina 10.15.3 on my iMac. Previous threads on this subject are too old.
In Terminal when prompted for the password it will not echo what you type, you just have to carefully type your password & press enter. :)
Did you attempt to delete Time Machine backups via Finder? If you did they will always get stuck in the Trash. You'll notice if you disconnect your TM drive they will disappear but if you then reconnect it they will return. The fastest ad easiest way to sort it is to wipe your TM drive and start over.
Then it doesn't sound like its related to your TM backup. Try restarting and then emptying the Trash. Also try Safe Mode:
Use safe mode to isolate issues with your Mac - Apple Support
OK, here's what happened. First of all, my disks refused to load in Disk Utility. So I restarted in Safe Mode. Let it do its thing for awhile. Then restarted normally and the disks loaded fine. But when I tried to erase TM I got a message, "Erase Process has failed".
I then dragged some items into the trash and emptied then out without a problem. I also forced TM to start backing up - which it did.
So for now everything seems to be working. Safe Mode was the way to go.
Try rebooting MacOS and try emptying the folder again.
Did you disconnect the TM drive to test?
I had to force quit my iMac because Trashcan was still in use. However, now that I have restarted, you are right -- the trashcan is empty.
So now I have another question: Is there really any point in having Time Machine if iCloud backs everything up for me? I have used TC for a long time because it gave me peace of mind, but it's starting to give me problems so I am thinking of not using it any more.
Been away on vacation. This problem has not gone away. Nothing seems to work.
I never touch Time Machine. Why would it suddenly start giving me a problem? I suppose I could wipe it, if I can figure out how. As long as the trashcan problem doesn't start happening again.
Just disconnected, but I am still unable to do anything with the Trash. When I try to open it I get a message "You can't open the Trash because it's being emptied."
OK, I will do all this later today and mark this thread as solved if everything works.
Thank you, macjack
You're welcome.
That's good news, glad it's sorted!.
Yes, because iCloud isn't meant a backup solution. It is a syncing feature designed to keep certain files up to date across all your devices.
If your TM drive is still disconnected and the files in the Trash have disappeared then the solution is to wipe your TM drive and start over. Go to Disk Utility and choose the uppermost, unindented icon representing the entire drive. (You may have to go to the upser left in Disk Utility and choose "View" to reveal it. Then Erase and reformat as Mac OS Extended (Journaled).
Trash can will not empty
