I can't delete a folder/directory in the Trash that has no visible contents, but when trying to delete there are 5 "items in use" -- the folder name, ".Trash", an old folder name, "Library", and "VoiceTrigger"
I have a MacBook Air, running Tahoe 26.1, and restarting in Safe Mode doesn't allow me to delete this folder/directory. Any suggestions?
MacBook Air (M4, 2025)
It looks like their Trash folder isn't behaving normally — Finder shows items present, but Terminal doesn’t see anything in `~/.Trash`. That usually means one of two things:
Ok, we now want to locate where your Trash folder exists. Use this command: ls -la ~/.Trash
If you see an error like “No such file or directory” or the folder looks odd (wrong permissions, wrong owner, or is a symbolic link), that’s the root of the issue.
If it’s missing or corrupted, you can recreate it with these commands:
Then restart the Mac and attempt emptying the Trash again. Please post back your results.
It looks like their Trash folder isn't behaving normally — Finder shows items present, but Terminal doesn’t see anything in `~/.Trash`. That usually means one of two things:
Ok, we now want to locate where your Trash folder exists. Use this command: ls -la ~/.Trash
If you see an error like “No such file or directory” or the folder looks odd (wrong permissions, wrong owner, or is a symbolic link), that’s the root of the issue.
If it’s missing or corrupted, you can recreate it with these commands:
Then restart the Mac and attempt emptying the Trash again. Please post back your results.
This usually happens when background processes keep references to items that were moved to the Trash, or when the folder contains hidden system files that Finder doesn’t show. Safe Mode was a good step, but Tahoe can still keep certain daemons running that prevent deletion.
Let's start with this command in the Terminal app to see if it can resolve this issue: sudo rm -R ~/.Trash/*
Enter your Mac's administrator-level account password when prompted. Please post back your results.
Tesserax wrote:
The first command is actually: ls -la. ~/.Trash. Those are two lower-case L's for "ls," and "-la". Please give it another go.
FYI, I cannot access anything within that folder. "Operation not permitted" even when using "sudo".
Here's the contents of my Terminal session window:
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Mac:~ roland$ sudo rm -R ~/.Trash/*
Password:
rm: /Users/roland/.Trash/*: No such file or directory
Mac:~ roland$
HWTech wrote:
Tesserax wrote:
The first command is actually: ls -la. ~/.Trash. Those are two lower-case L's for "ls," and "-la". Please give it another go.
FYI, I cannot access anything within that folder. "Operation not permitted" even when using "sudo".
?
Is that limited to M-series...
On Intel macOS 26.1
OK, as shown below, the command: /s -/a ~/.Trash comes back with "No such file or directory"
but the command: sudo rm -R ~.Trash yields "Operation not permitted"
From my Terminal window:
Mac:~ roland$ /s -/a ~/.Trash
-bash: /s: No such file or directory
Mac:~ roland$ sudo rm -R ~/.Trash
Password:
rm: /Users/roland/.Trash: Operation not permitted
Mac:~ roland$
Hey opred!
You can try Terminal: sudo rm -rf (Put a space after the ~rf, then drag the contents of the trash into the Terminal window, hit Return enter password and hit Return again). You may need to add Terminal to Settings > Privacy and Security > Full Disk Access first.
If that doesn’t work, and per previous comments and what I’ve also witnessed with this lately, to avoid a full erase and reinstall, you could temporarily disable SIP, just long enough to empty the trash, then enable SIP again:
Disabling and Enabling System Integrity Protection | Apple Developer Documentation
Use this with caution of course. Anyhow I remember an issue whereas that Voice Trigger file was related to Siri settings for a particular user account in which disabling that setting from the other user account fixed, that was a while back though.
Otherwise, when you open the trash, highlight the folder(s) then hit View > Show Path Bar, it will show the path to the trash on the bottom of the Finder window. The contents you see in the macOS trash could be the trash of your user folder, the trash of an external drive, o even the trash of iCloud Drive, or even another syncing service, that info might help as well, as well as viewing the permissions of each file/folder in that directory. Anyhow hope it works out!
The first command is actually: ls -la. ~/.Trash. Those are two lower-case L's for "ls," and "-la". Please give it another go.
You're right. I had the same issue until I added the Terminal app to Full Disk Access. I believe this is due to the fact that macOS Tahoe has the Trash folder protected by TCC & SIP.
MacBook Air: Can't delete Trash folder with items in use
