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Can't delete folders

After updating to Catalina 7 empty folders showed up in my system finder. They seem to be thumb drive and old drives that I once used. They are not on the desk top since they are no longer around anywhere.

I have tried deleting but the y will not delete. No error messages show they just won't go away. Any help would be appreciated. I'm using an iMac.

iMac 27", OS X 10.11

Posted on Apr 7, 2020 5:09 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Apr 10, 2020 3:41 PM

Thank you for info. Had to reinstall OS but it got rid of the folders. They were in the root directory. During install it warned me if I continued it would delete them. Yah hoo! Thanks again.


Gerrybeane

2 replies

Apr 10, 2020 7:59 AM in response to Gerrybeane

Hey there Gerrybeane,


Thanks for reaching out to Apple Support Communities. I understand some empty folders appeared unexpectedly after updating to macOS Catalina and you’re having issues removing them. I’ll be happy to help.


If you haven’t already, restart your Mac and disconnect any accessories other than your mouse/trackpad and keyboard, then try removing the files again:


How to turn your Mac on or off

Delete files and folders on Mac


If that doesn’t help, boot into safe mode and try removing the folders there:


How to use safe mode on your Mac


If you still have issues, check the permissions of these folders and make sure you have the ability to read and write:


Change permissions for files, folders, or disks on Mac


Regards.

Can't delete folders

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