Can't empty old user folder from Trash

Deleting the User Account did not work for me; it just left locked folders in the trash, so I did the following:

First, change the permissions on each folder:

—Open the trash and reveal hidden items: Command-Shift-period;

—Then, 'get info' (Command-I) on the first locked folder (the one with the white minus sign in a red circle);

—Click on the padlock icon bottom right of the info window. You will be asked to enter your password;

—Click the '+' icon bottom left of the info window and add your account name. Change the 'Privilege' in the  window bottom right to 'Read & Write".

—Repeat the process for each nested folder;

—I then used the 'Trash Bins' utility in 'Clean My Mac X' to empty the trash (emptying it in the usual way did not work for me). Another utility such as 'Trash It' might work too.

Hope this helps.

conventional wisdom is that items "in use" will not be "in use" after a restart.

After fighting this for over a week, I finally figured it out! At least for me!

I turned on File Vault. Let it finish. Then, deleted the Trash like normal. DONE!!

I bit the bullet and erased and restored from a backup. All is well now.

I am having the EXACT same problem. I am loathe to reinstall, but that folder in the trash complicates using the trash can for routine trash.

One simple expedient I have found is to move the offending folder to the desktop and just ignore it. Then the Trash works as it should.

The top-level folder of a User is protected by macOS. it can not be deleted by placing it in the trash, largely because DOZENS of things are linked to it.

To remove a User AND their Folder, :

system Preferences > Users& Groups > select the user Account

authenticate to unlock the lock.

then delete [-] the account, and in the dialogs that follow specify to discard the user's files as well as their Account.

CAUTION: when deleting Users with Admin privileges, be certain there is at least one Admin remaining on your Mac, or your will lock yourself out AND lose all your files. Consider creating an Admin-only account as protection against this possibility.

While this subject is open: DO NOT Re-name user accounts. Create a new user account with the name you prefer, and copy your files over instead. Users who make one tiny mistake re-naming their account lose all their files.

¿Did you try deleting the user account "the right way" ??

Maybe that would unlock some of those files so that they can be discarded.

If the account is not showing any more, you may have to:

be sure your backups are current

ERASE your drive and re-install macOS,

then restire only the Users you want to have going forward from backups.

Actually, erase and restore was an easier task than trying to get around Apple’s built in “safeguards”.

the "approved method" for deleting an unwanted user account is to use:

system Preferences > Users & Groups ...

unlock the lock

select the unwanted Account

choose delete [-] and when offered the option, YES you want to to delete the user files as well

Delete a user or group on Mac - Apple Support

There are some Terminal commands you could try. They are NOTHING like the safe environment provided by MacOS.

CAUTION: Terminal commands are a box of VERY sharp tools with all the safety features turned OFF.

If you reach blindly into the Terminal tool-bin and 'just try something', it WILL cut your fingers off.

Great advice when the horse is out of the barn. Can you be helpful in our situation, i.e., we deleted the account the wrong way and it is not listed in "Users and Groups" anymore. Although there are no visible files, there are thousands of invisible files totaling almost 5GB.

The account was not properly deleted. My fault. I am stuck with the problem but even though it is consuming 5 GB of space, I am getting weary of trying to clean it up. There are 42,000 invisible files sitting there that I cant delete. I can afford to lose the 5gb as I have a 1tb ssd, but it does irritate me. I’m debating the erase and reinstall option. Maybe tomorrow. 😂