Stuck with emptying trash, no files deleted

Question

Level 1

34 points

Stuck with emptying trash, no files deleted

Hey all!

I'm trying to delete files from my Mac OS X Lion system, but it fails. Well actually, nothing happends. When i hit EMPTY TRASH, the dialog box opens with a note "emptying the trash" and showing the number of files to be deleted (486 files) - but nothing happends. It just hangs there.

I did the file persmissions repair, which initally took very long to kick off showing it will take some 7 hours... I got worried there, but then completed in about 5 mins....

Any ideas whats going on?

macbook, Mac OS X (10.6.4)

Posted on Feb 26, 2012 1:08 PM

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Answer 1

HACKINT0SH

Level 5

5,804 points

Feb 26, 2012 2:15 PM in response to diggy123

File PR gives you an over-estimate of time, so you can always ignore that.

Hold down option when you empty the trash, if that doesnt' work, try this:

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1526

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Answer 2

macjack

Level 10

111,168 points

Feb 27, 2012 7:49 AM in response to diggy123

To see what's in the trash:

Launch Terminal and copy & paste these commands:

cd ~/.Trash

Press Return

Then enter ls Press return

This will list of the contents of your trash, so you can if there's anything you need you can drag it out. If not, follow these instructions:

Go to /Applications /Utilities/Terminal and launch it.

At the prompt, copy and paste this command

sudo rm -rf ~/.Trash

Press Return.

You will be asked to enter your admin password. It will be invisible.

Enter it and press Return.

Log out and back in or restart.

Let us know.

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