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Cannot empty the trash (Catalina 10.15.3)

Good afternoon, i have a 2015 Macbook Pro running 10.15.3 and i have an empty folder in my trash can that will not delete. I keep a very clean desktop and that little full trash icon is driving me nuts. I copied a folder of videos from my friend's PC to my external hard drive went to delete the folder after watching everything and the videos deleted but the folder is still in the trash. "Operation cannot be completed because the file is in use." The folder is empty and unlocked. I have shut down and restarted my mac many times. I have tried to empty it, "Empty Immediately", rebooted in Safe mode, deleted it then it was back when i restarted in normal running mode. I ran first aid on my startup disk, it said it's OK. I rebooted in recovery mode and did first aid on all disks and again, said it was fine. When i rebooted in normal mode just now, the trash was empty but maybe 5 minutes later, that folder was back in the trash and can't be deleted. I have tried to force empty trash using Terminal. That didn't work. I've tried every suggestion from multiple google searches and from the support site on here and nothing works. I have no idea what else to try. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 10.15

Posted on May 29, 2020 12:26 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on May 29, 2020 1:02 AM

Nagakura Said:

"Cannot empty the trash (Catalina 10.15.3):[...] I copied a folder of videos from my friend's PC to my external hard drive went to delete the folder after watching everything and the videos deleted but the folder is still in the trash.[...]"

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Just Sitting There - Plug at back to Trash, then delete it. It is sitting there because the deletion was not fully complete, and awaiting permission.

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

May 29, 2020 1:02 AM in response to Nagakura

Nagakura Said:

"Cannot empty the trash (Catalina 10.15.3):[...] I copied a folder of videos from my friend's PC to my external hard drive went to delete the folder after watching everything and the videos deleted but the folder is still in the trash.[...]"

-------


Just Sitting There - Plug at back to Trash, then delete it. It is sitting there because the deletion was not fully complete, and awaiting permission.

May 29, 2020 1:32 AM in response to Nagakura

Nagakura Said:

"Cannot empty the trash (Catalina 10.15.3): [...]the option to restore it to it's previous location (remove from the trash) is not available when i control+click to get more info. Also, it seems to have disappeared from the trash now. I did not empty it. I am very confused."


A. Relaunch Finder:

Items that are deleted and installed will be set to how and where they should be.

  1. Go To: Apple Menu
  2. Select: Force Quit...
  3. Select: Finder
  4. Click: Refresh


B. Reinstall the macOS:

Nothing would be lost. It's just that corrupted files and moved files, would be replaced and related, respectively. Boot into Recovery Mode, and select to reinstall it. Be connected to WiFi. But use Ethernet, for a more reliable connection. Also, be certain to backup your Mac prior to performing the reinstallation

Cannot empty the trash (Catalina 10.15.3)

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