System asking for password to delete stuff?

Question

Level 1

6 points

System asking for password to delete stuff?

Hello everyone,

Out of the blue my desktop machine is asking me to enter my system password before I can delete something. This has never happened before! It doesn't matter whether I'm using a keyboard shortcut to delete, dragging to the trash or using the drop down in the Finder window, it asks for my system password. I rebooted my machine but I'm still having the same problem.

Any ideas?

Thanks,

Bruce Fairbanks

iMac, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.3)

Posted on May 4, 2013 1:28 PM

Reply

Answer 1

mende1

Level 10

93,624 points

May 4, 2013 1:30 PM in response to bfairbanks

That's caused by a problem with your Trash folder. To fix it, see > http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/trash.html#Anchor-Files-46919

Reply

Answer 2

bfairbanks Author

Level 1

6 points

May 4, 2013 1:32 PM in response to mende1

Sorry, but that FAQ you linked to doesn't address this specific problem.

Reply

Answer 3

mende1

Level 10

93,624 points

May 4, 2013 1:33 PM in response to bfairbanks

In that case, scroll to the top of that site and choose "Files dragged to the Trash "will be deleted immediately" alert"

Reply

Answer 4

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,739 points

May 4, 2013 5:12 PM in response to bfairbanks

1. Triple-click the line below to select it:

~/.Trash

2. Right-click or control-click the highlighted line and select

Services ▹ Show Info

from the contextual menu.* An Info dialog should open.

3. The dialog should show "You can read and write" in the Sharing & Permissions section. If that's not what it shows, click the padlock icon in the lower right corner of the window and enter your password when prompted. Use the plus- and minus-sign buttons to give yourself Read & Write access and "everyone" No Access. Delete any other entries in the access list.

4. In the General section, uncheck the box marked Locked if it's checked.

5. From the action menu (gear icon) at the bottom of the dialog, select Apply to enclosed items and confirm.

6. Close the Info window and test.

*If you don't see the contextual menu item, copy the selected text to the Clipboard ( command-C). Open a TextEdit window and paste into it ( command-V). Select the line you just pasted and continue as above.

Reply

Answer 5

bfairbanks Author

Level 1

6 points

May 4, 2013 10:59 PM in response to Linc Davis

Hello,

I got to the contextual menu. It already says that System has Read and Write privileges and Everyone has No Access. This folder is not locked. There is no option to “apply to enclosed items”, even when I unlock and enter my password.

Reply