Unable to empty trash after upgrading to Lion

Question

Level 1

0 points

Unable to empty trash after upgrading to Lion

I recently updated to 10.7 Lion and now cannot empty my trash either by right-clicking and selecting empty trash and also accessing the Finder menu and selecting empty trash or secure empty trash. I can hear the standard empty trash sound clip but all files and folders still remain in the trash and the trash icon remains full.

Any clues?

I verified and repaired disk permissions after updating to Lion and then downloaded the remaining software updates.

I've run out of ideas.

Any help would be appreciated.

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.7)

Posted on Jul 23, 2011 11:19 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Jul 23, 2011 11:37 AM in response to The Architex

I have the same problem.

If you go into your trash folder via the terminal and delete single files (not folders) it works. If you want to delete a folder the command gets stuck, the same way the Empty Trash Button does.

After going into one folder I noticed that everything is deleted except the __MACOSX folder, which is empty. If you try to delete this folder it gets stuck. So probably the system has a problem with deleting this folder, since it is in every other folder in my Trash Bin.

Hope this helps to find a solution

Ben

Reply

Answer 2

The Architex Author

Level 1

0 points

Jul 23, 2011 12:26 PM in response to benjaminmateev

Hi Benjamin,

Just got off the phone with Applecare.

It took us a awhile but eventually using these steps helped with solving the problem.

Go to Terminal

Type in the following command

sudo rm -rf

Make sure there is a "space" right after -rf

Then drag all your files or folders into Terminal after the command above

It should show you a list of all files and folders you dragged into Terminal

Next hit enter

It will ask for your system password

Enter in your password which will show blank

Hit enter

Then go back to your trash can and empty it.

Your trash should be empty now.

To keep it simple, instead of dragging a bunch of files and folders into Terminal, I found it was easier to drag all your trash into one folder and then use that one folder to drag into Terminal.

A final note. I created a dummy .txt file, dropped it into trash and noticed my trash still does not empty by simply right clicking and selecting empty trash.

I'm not sure if this is a bug in the Lion OSX or not. Hopefully, someone can provide some more insight.

Reply

Answer 3

Jul 24, 2011 1:23 PM in response to The Architex

Hi Architex, thanks for your post. I have the same problem. I followed your instructions step by step. Files seems to disappear from the trash, but actually the HD free space doesn't change (at least in my mac).

ps please forgive my english

Reply

Answer 4

Jul 24, 2011 4:57 PM in response to fotografoambulante

Yea, I followed the instructions also. Files disappear. Folders don't go anywhere. Contents of the folders are empty though.

Reply

Answer 5

Jul 25, 2011 6:33 AM in response to randallmay

My files & folders dissapear from the trash, but HD-space does not increase.

Reply

Answer 6

Jul 25, 2011 6:35 AM in response to The Architex

I think this problem has been around "forever." Download MainMenu and try that. Always burns the trash, and no terminal commands, just a few clicks.

Reply

Answer 7

AMMOCAN

Level 1

140 points

Jul 25, 2011 6:37 AM in response to Rami Lindholm

Because of the MobileBackup feature you will most likely not see a change in space or at least not a very big one. I would suggest turning off TimeMachine, then restart your machine. After doing this you should see a difference.

Reply

Answer 8

Jul 25, 2011 11:07 PM in response to The Architex

I had this same problem and found that it was because there was a "locked" file somewhere in the trash (possibly the first file in the trash, or first file in the first directory). To know if a file is locked, right-click the file in your trash and select "Get Info". The "Locked" checkbox is under Gerneral.

When I unlocked the only locked file, Trash started emptying successfully again.

Reply

Answer 9

Jul 27, 2011 12:37 PM in response to The Architex

I also upgraded from Snow Leopard to Lion and could not empty the trash. For me it happened when trying to delete a large directory of files, for those search, it was an SVN repository. Anway, I was able to empty the trash after resetting the PRAM and NVRAM - http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1379

I tried everything else and this is the only thing that worked for me.

Reply

Answer 10

Jul 29, 2011 8:29 AM in response to itlstudios

I skipped the other "fixes" mentioned in this thread and simply reset PRAM and NVRAM, worked. Now I can delete my own trash.

Reply

Answer 11

cruzain

Level 1

0 points

Jul 31, 2011 5:02 AM in response to The Architex

Try using 'Secure Empty Trash...' in the Finder menu below 'Preferences' and 'Empty Trash'. It worked for me. It took a little time, but my trash is now empty.

Reply

Answer 12

Barney-15E

Level 10

112,644 points

Jul 31, 2011 5:16 AM in response to The Architex

I verified and repaired disk permissions after updating to Lion and then downloaded the remaining software updates.

Repairing permissions does not affect anything in your Home folder. You have to manually check those.

In Terminal, if you type this command (just copy and paste it in),

ls -ale .Trash/

you should see something like this as the first line:

drwx------ 8 username staff 272 Jul 30 07:56 .

Also, for the items in the trash that are listed below the line that ends with .., you should be the owner (your username listed) and you should see at least -rw-------. You could have other characters where the dashes are, but you need at lease write privileges.

Reply