Trash won't empty deleted time machine backups

ok, so I dragged old ™ backup folders into the trash, without realising I couldn't delete these this way.

So now can anyone tell me how to put them back and to delete them?

Appreciate your help.

If you Control-Click (Right-click) on the item in the Trash is there a Put Back option? If yes, it will put the items back on the Time Machine drive.

If no, download Trash It and see if that works. http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/8214/trash-it

This Macworld article is a good reference. Mac troubleshooting: What to do when the Trash won’t empty

It seems Trash It is no longer available. ... Is that so?

(Put Back option is there for the backup folders)

I'll try a couple of other apps out and let you know if they worked...

Trash It is still available. I just downloaded it. This is a direct link:

http://www.macupdate.com/download/8214/trashit.zip

On opening the app I got the following message: (Mountain Lion - Maverick)

"Your security preferences allow installation of only apps from the Mac App Store and identified developers."

Any way I can get around this, anyone?

I also found another app called Onyx that might work. But again, not found on the Appstore.

You can install apps like Onyx by going to System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Select Open Anyway.

Some of the older applications will require you to enter password and set Anywhere. Be absolutely sure before doing this. As soon as you finish installing, set back to Mac App Store and identified developers.

The suggestion by smo0F worked very well.

The files that i had deleted from Time Machine were in my trashes and 'locked'.

Having opened up terminal in applications>utilities>terminal i then wrote the code suggested by smo0f as sudo chflags -R nouchg.

I then opened up my trash can by clicking it and then hit ctrl-A to highlight all the files as each one has a separate folder name.

I then dragged the highlighted folders (making sure they were all the ones from the time machine) in to the terminal after the sudo code.

Loads of text flowed on the terminal and then I hit return.

There was no success message, but then I went back to the trash folder that was open to empty trash using the cmd+shift+delete and it cleared it....so relieved.

All those folders in the trash were like a cloud above my head, like we all haven't got enough stuff to do

Huge thanks to all who contributed!

G

Just found this solution for my other half - who was driving me crazy by being driven crazy by his non-emptying trash. Thanks so much smo0F, you saved our evening!!

I just want to thank you all! It took some time, but you made my day. Definitely going to do thins in a different way now. I think Smoof's "sudo chflags -R nouchg" did the trick for me. But I wouldn't know for sure since I did everything. I got to get back to work now. Best to all! =D.

this actually works. i had the exact same problem as described in the threads primary question. i should say one thing though, and no disrespect intended, just truth- mac discussion threads suck, not be cause mac ***** but because people who want to act so **** smart lead you on goose chases. come on people.

Thank you for this thread. I made the mistake of offering to add my husband's iMac to the TM backups - not enough space on the 1TB Time Capsule. I thought I would 'force' space by deleting unneeded earlier TM backups.

Mistake #1: Sooooo I found advice to delete TM backups using Finder & dragging the backups to trash. That was terrific until I tried to delete these backup date folders from trash.

Fixing my Mistake #1: I have exhausted all the option key / combination option key / approaches suggested in this & other threads (thank you so much for the ideas!). Although I am not a programmer, I am trying the terminal approach you suggested - I ran into the confusion (also mentioned on this thread) that the password requested does not echo to the screen. Right now in Terminal I have pointed the 'sudo-rm -rf/' command to 1 of the backup folders by using the 'getinfo' file address. Terminal has been running for well over 1 hour - listing every file in that folder - as each file is loaded it ends with 'Permission denied'. Once the entire run goes through I will try the 2nd step to see if I have more luck after running the 'sudo-chflags -R nouchg' command.

If anything in my approach appears out of whack, please let me know. I will post as the steps unfold.

Still working on this project. I have now put my trash files through the terminal command as:

gails-mbp:~ Gail$ sudo chflags -R nouchg /Volumes/Time\ Machine\ Backups/.Trashes/501/2013-09-29-231043

x2. It is still running since last night - the way I know this is when I try to cancel it I get a window asking me to confirm - otherwise there is no indicator. I have 12 TM backup folders in my trash that I am working on getting rid of. After I completed the sudo chflags command noted above, I have tried both the terminal approach with command rm -rf & dragging in the folders + I tried emptying trash directly by 1st doing a command & A to highlight all the folders & then holding option+command+shift+delete. The counters for files to be deleted has ranged from 25K - 66K (it goes up each time). None of the steps has been successful - strangely, the folders disappear for a couple of hours and have reappeared.

This has tied up a stunning amount of time & cycles making my current TM backups very slow. I am regularly rebooting / restarting. I have not yet tried safe mode as I need to get all the steps written down before I do it & I am not a programmer so I get very nervous doing steps like that. Next stop is the Genius Bar...

btw... I deeply appreciate this thread & the folks that have provided helpful advice. I have not yet been successful personally but have been buoyed up by the reports of others who have!

Thanks. I deleted a time machine backup and started emptying the trash when I came across this problem. I could neither empty the trash or put the files back (an error along the lines of "some files could not be found" after the botched attempt at emptying the trash.) In the end after running the chflags command you gave I was finally able to sudo rm -rf the folders away. Phew. I owe you one.

Amazing and so simple, thanks dude!

x3. Still working on getting rid of the files. I have managed to get rid of 2 of the 12 backups I had. Stunning investment of time to get here.