Empty Trash not working - items will empty, then reappear with cloud icon

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7 points

Empty Trash not working - items will empty, then reappear with cloud icon

My trash bin will not empty - I have 2 issues. First is whenever I empty the trash, the items shown in the screenshot will reappear within 10-15 seconds. I see the cloud icon, but I can't figure out where they are stored and why they keep reappearing on the trash bin on my device. I have completely cleared my iCloud and there is nothing being stored there. Second issue is that .ics file, it keeps saying that it is in use and I have to skip that item, but I cannot find where it is being used - I have tried closing all programs, restarting, etc. with no luck. Any advice? -- Oh, and it's ONLY these files that will reappear - if I delete something new and then empty the trash, the new files will be gone, but these shown will reappear.

Mac mini, macOS 14.2

Posted on Dec 23, 2023 7:25 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

ayshiri Author

Level 1

7 points

Jan 29, 2024 10:04 AM in response to jdhill84

I think I figured it out - it's definitely a google drive issue - I was able to close my google drive completely and turn of sync; then I emptied the recycle bin and restarted the computer - once restarted, I checked the recycle bin (still empty) - then I went into google drive (web version) and ensured the recycle bin is empty there - finally I turned the google drive app back on my mac and enabled sync - so far, I haven't seen the files come back.

Hope this helps!

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Answer 2

Feb 24, 2024 4:49 PM in response to ayshiri

Turning Google drive off and restarting my Mac did not solve the bin files continuously showing up.

This worked -> I clicked Google Drive desktop in two menu bar and disconnected Google Drive (logs you out).

I deleted the bin. Then reconnected the drive (log in). Bin did not repopulate - thank goodness.

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Answer 3

jdhill84

Level 1

16 points

Jan 7, 2024 11:39 AM in response to ayshiri

That seems to be happening to me as well. If you pay attention to the Google Drive icon in the Toolbar on the top right, go into your trash and click on that little cloud icon next to one of your deleted items. On my machine, when I do that, the Google Drive icon lights up and starts re-downloading the file. Somehow Google Drive is keeping a record in the Trash of deleted files. I'm sure the purpose is to make them recoverable somehow, but obviously we want an empty window when we empty the trash. From what I can tell, these files are NOT still taking up space locally. I can't find anything in the Google Drive preferences that would enable you to elect that this happens or not, but essentially if you see that cloud icon next to it, that means that it's not physically on your machine. I'm still trying to find a solution and will post one if/when I do.

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Answer 4

Dec 23, 2023 10:25 AM in response to ayshiri

ayshiri wrote:

My trash bin will not empty - I have 2 issues. First is whenever I empty the trash, the items shown in the screenshot will reappear within 10-15 seconds. I see the cloud icon, but I can't figure out where they are stored and why they keep reappearing on the trash bin on my device.

I have completely cleared my iCloud and there is nothing being stored there. Second issue is that .ics file, it keeps saying that it is in use and I have to skip that item, but I cannot find where it is being used - I have tried closing all programs, restarting, etc. with no luck. Any advice? -- Oh, and it's ONLY these files that will reappear - if I delete something new and then empty the trash, the new files will be gone, but these shown will reappear.