Trash says "being emptied" for hours, but doesn't empty.

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Trash says "being emptied" for hours, but doesn't empty.

So, about a week ago, I clicked empty my trash. It took a little while. A minute later, I forgot that it was running, so I closed my Mac. When I turned it back on, I realized that the trash was paused emptying and the error started. I couldn't empty my trash anymore. It just appeared like it was running by saying: "Emptying the trash...," but, in fact, it didn't. After waiting for like 10 mins, no items got deleted, so I shut down my Mac by holding the Power button until it shut up. Now, I turn it back on to try again. I waited for like an hour, but it still doesn't work. There are currently only 19 items left and they are all my photos and mp3 songs. I can't put other items to the trash nor empty the items in the trash. If you have any idea, please help ASAP 😟

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.7.2)

Posted on Sep 4, 2012 7:05 PM

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Answer 1

Enrike Lieu Author

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Sep 4, 2012 7:08 PM in response to Enrike Lieu

Also, when the trash is emptying, I can't shut down the system. It says the system operation is running. That was why I shut down my Mac by holding the Power button.

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Answer 2

Sep 4, 2012 7:15 PM in response to Enrike Lieu

You can't repair it if you are running off it, so you should try some of these to shutdown/restart first:

OS X Mountain Lion: Shortcuts for sleep and shutting down

Then start up in Safe Mode:

Mac OS X: Starting up in Safe Mode

Or use Recovery_HD and run Disk Utility and "Repair Disk"

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Answer 3

Enrike Lieu Author

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Sep 4, 2012 7:27 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Please be more specific. I'm not that bright at using computer.

What should I do after getting into the Safe Mode?

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Answer 4

Sep 4, 2012 7:43 PM in response to Enrike Lieu

Safe Mode does one pass of Disk Utility "Repair Disk" as it starts up. Then it loads the smallest possible set of extensions and invites you to log in.

When you get to the Safe Mode screen, supply your user_id and password and log in (even if you normally auto-login). Then see if you can empty the Trash from there.

"Repair Disk" (whether by starting in Safe Mode or from launching Disk Utility and requesting it directly) spends about five minutes making sure the Disk Directory (the scoreboard that tells where all the chunks of all the files are stored) has integrity. When it is done, all files have directory entries, all files can be found easily, no files are cross-linked, and the free list is accurate. So you should be good to go.

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Answer 5

Nov 5, 2012 3:22 AM in response to Enrike Lieu

Force the Trash to empty using Terminal.app

(You will find terminal.app in utility folder)

This technique uses a Terminal command to fore the Trash to empty. Perform the following steps in the order specified:

1.	Launch Terminal, located in the Macintosh HD > Applications > Utilities folder.
2.	At the Terminal prompt, type the following command exactly as written: sudo rm -rf ~/.Trash/* Note that: There is a single space after each of the terms sudorm, and -rf command. Assure you have typed the command exactly as written before proceeding: typographical errors in this command can have dire consequences, including erasing your hard drive! 3.
Press Return.
4.	Type your Admin password when prompted, then press Return. The files in the Trash are now deleted.

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Answer 6

Nov 5, 2012 12:09 PM in response to Enrike Lieu

Trash It!

Works great for me on Mountain Lion, particularly in trashing PDFs that very often "stick".

http://www.nonamescriptware.com/trash-it-v5-0-officially-released/

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