Emptying the trash bin takes forever, even for small files!

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Emptying the trash bin takes forever, even for small files!

The screen for emptying the trash bin is stuck with a "Deleting" message and active progress bar, taking forever and not closing. The file size is small and is not "locked". One temporary fix I found is to press the "x" button, which normally cancels the emptying process. However, in my case, the trash gets emptied whenever I do that. I am using Mac OS 13.1 on a MacBook Pro with M1 Max chip and the device has plenty of free space on the hard drive. What can be done to resolve this issue?

Trash bin with a single small file:

Emptying trash bin window stuck (with active progress bar moving):

Pressing the "x" button fixes the issue temporarily:

Trash bin emptied after "stopping" the emptying process:

MacBook Pro Apple Silicon

Posted on Jan 30, 2023 11:53 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

shaknon Author

Level 1

11 points

Jan 31, 2023 2:04 PM in response to PRP_53

was the object Originally located on an External Drive ?

The files were on the local desk. However, your comment reminded me that I faced a problem with deleting some files from an external drive few months ago. And I think the problem started around that time (although not 100% sure). So I connected that drive again and found some files in the trash and I deleted them. I also updated my OS to the latest version as both @leroydouglas and you recommended. After a restart, everything seems back to normal. I am not sure which approach fixed the issue, but I thought it might be helpful to share the process I went through in case some else faces a similar issue in the future. Thanks for the reply.

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Answer 2

PRP_53

Level 10

90,541 points

Jan 31, 2023 7:49 AM in response to shaknon

Would follow the previous advise first.

Must ask, the object in the Trash of your image " was " originally located where on the computer ?

Or was the object Originally located on an External Drive ?

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Answer 3

shaknon Author

Level 1

11 points

Jan 31, 2023 2:03 PM in response to leroydouglas

The current stable release of Ventura including bug fixes, security updates is macOS Ventura 13.2 I would start there, report back your success or failure...

It seems everything is back to normal after the update + deleting some trash bin files that were on an external device (see my reply to @P. Phillips below). Not sure which approach fixed the problem, but I am glad the issue is resolved. Thanks for the reply.

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Answer 4

Jan 31, 2023 7:39 AM in response to shaknon

shaknon wrote:

The screen for emptying the trash bin is stuck with a "Deleting" message and active progress bar, taking forever and not closing. The file size is small and is not "locked". One temporary fix I found is to press the "x" button, which normally cancels the emptying process. However, in my case, the trash gets emptied whenever I do that. I am using Mac OS 13.1 on a MacBook Pro with M1 Max chip and the device has plenty of free space on the hard drive. What can be done to resolve this issue?

The current stable release of Ventura including bug fixes, security updates is macOS Ventura 13.2 I would start there, report back your success or failure...

Keep your Mac up to date - Apple Support

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Answer 5

PRP_53

Level 10

90,541 points

Jan 31, 2023 2:04 PM in response to shaknon

Welcome.

Pleased the original issues seems fixed

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Emptying the trash bin takes forever, even for small files!

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