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How to find locked files

Very often, when I try to immediately delete files in the bin -using option+command+delete- a notification appears saying that the requested deletion could not be finished, because some files were locked, suggesting to identify those files and unlock them.

The problem is that there are thousands of files to identify and this is above my capacities!

Is there a way to do a batch search of these files? Does any community member know how to do it?

I would be most grateful for any help I could receive. Many thanks!

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 10.12

Posted on May 24, 2023 2:21 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on May 24, 2023 5:39 AM

It's a long boring task as far as I can tell. I've always just had to drill down to one at a time, fix the issue on that file, delete it and do it again.


You can narrow the search somewhat by "Delete Immediately" blocks of files. Each time you get the notice, make your block smaller. Slow and tedious.

2 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

May 24, 2023 5:39 AM in response to kimefa

It's a long boring task as far as I can tell. I've always just had to drill down to one at a time, fix the issue on that file, delete it and do it again.


You can narrow the search somewhat by "Delete Immediately" blocks of files. Each time you get the notice, make your block smaller. Slow and tedious.

How to find locked files

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