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How to delete grayed out icons.

During an Airdrop of photos from an iPhone to this iMac there was some problem and the process failed. It seems that some of the files started to get through but I now have a thousand or so grayed out .JPG files each measuring zero KBs. I've tried shutting down the computer, unplugging and pressing the power buton for 15 seconds but after rebooting the ghost files remain in my Downloads folder. How can I clear them permanently?

Thank you.

I have a crash log but keep getting an 'over 5,000 characters' warning even when I use the additional text feature as suggested.

Posted on Aug 28, 2023 4:59 PM

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William Heber Percy Author

Level 1

27 points

Posted on Aug 29, 2023 10:25 PM

Follow up: I unplugged peripherals, booted into Safe mode again, deleted the ghost files and shut down the iMac. Before rebooting I unplugged everything and pressed the power button for 15 seconds.

That seems to have solved the problem.

Thanks for your help.

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5 replies

Top-ranking reply

William Heber Percy Author

Level 1

27 points

Aug 29, 2023 10:25 PM in response to William Heber Percy

Follow up: I unplugged peripherals, booted into Safe mode again, deleted the ghost files and shut down the iMac. Before rebooting I unplugged everything and pressed the power button for 15 seconds.

That seems to have solved the problem.

Thanks for your help.

Aug 28, 2023 11:35 PM in response to Matti Haveri

Hi,

When I try to move or delete the 1300 files I'm warned that this could cause problems for the (undisclosed) application which is using them. Airdrop was the last app/facility to use them. It can't still have a hand in the game, can it?

I've now reinstalled Ventura and... the files are still sitting in Downloads. I'll wait to hear if the community has other suggestions before trying to delete them in Safe Mode.

Thank you.

Aug 28, 2023 5:16 PM in response to William Heber Percy

You might try booting into safemode which allows the OS to run diagnostics and clear out temp cache files. It might straighten out this issue for you:

Start up your Mac in safe mode - Apple Support

Aug 28, 2023 9:44 PM in response to Randall_2023

Thank you for this suggestion which I followed. The problem persisted so I’m now reinstalling Ventura using the Recovery system.

Aug 28, 2023 10:41 PM in response to William Heber Percy

Could you not just delete those incomplete ghost files (after rebooting or in safe mode)?

How to delete grayed out icons.