Trash won't empty deleted time machine backups

Whew! Finally successful. The trick for me was to chunk down the terminal requests to 1 - 3 back-ups. Once I did that, using the 2 commands I was able to get my trash to stay empty.

Now my Macbook Pro is tied up with a time machine back up of >300gb from my Yosemite install... The backup has been running all week. Down to the final 25% so the end is in sight.

Thanks Smo0F, I've been trying to rectify this for ages and your solution worked perfectly.

Hi, I'm trying to do the same thing. Would you be able to help me since you've done it successfully, please.

I tried doing just "sudo rm -rf .Trashes" but each file came back "operation not permitted", so I'd like to try using "sudo chflags -R nouchg"

just not sure exactly where and when to enter it, and if I still need "sudo rm -rf .Trashes"

Thank you!!

Hi, I am using a MacBook Pro, late 2011, running Yosemite 10.1.1, I have had a few issues migrating over to the upgrade. One problem I had was that I created a new disk, partition I am guessing in Time Machine Back ups. Of course the previous disk dumped all it's backups.backup files into the trash. Being on a wireless network it was weird because, the files would be in Trash then not there, so I figured it was because of the wireless network.

It was a pain as Trash could not empty or was some indeterminate time frame, i read on one forum it took the guy 4 days... I wanted to get rid of them fast and clear space...so after trawling through forums and I want to thank, smoo0F and Pondini for there ideas(read their articles), I came up with a successful result, as follows;

1.Open Trash, do not start any empty Trash commands, just have window open.

2. Open up Terminal, your drive and username tilda etc should be there on command line.

3. Type sudo rm -rf ( note there is a space after -rf)

4. Drag the file from Trash and drop it on the command line after the space, sudo rm -rf (dragged file name) press enter

5. OS X will ask for your administrator username password, enter this exactly as terminal will not show what you are typing, hit enter.

6. If the little white dot has gone from the password prompt <>, then you know the system is working IT IS THE ONLY small indicator something is happening, go and make a cup of tea and come back, voilã it had been trashed. If you type incorrect password, then system will ask again, but I think stops asking after 3 attempts.

7. I started with one folder at a time and once on a roll, within a certain time you can type sudo command and drag and drop files over, without a prompt for a password, as you are allowed a certain time frame for repeat functions.

9. The time taken for various folders varied from 15 sec to a couple of minutes don't know why.

10. This was still too slow for me so I grabbed 10 folders all their included files, locked and unlocked,dragged them across, dropped on command line and I think, half a cup of tea later they where gone. Checked Time Machine, no dramas, No dramas with OS X. Everything working fine.

It took me a couple of attempts to get the command structure right, be aware that keystrokes where not present in password and to be patient that the activity was taking place in background, as Pondini puts it there is no progress bar. So thanks to the forum and hope maybe this helps out.

Cymbidium. (type of Orchid what else, studying Horticulture)

Bumper,

Thanks for the tip, that worked for me too.

bumper947 wrote:

open trash then hold down command option shift delete...this works for me

I had no hopes for this method, but it worked 😀

Thank you, this helped me to a degree but there are some folders, it appears unable to shift, I wonder if you can help?

Thanks! FOR ONCE a solution provided without requesting a 3rd party app download ACTUALLY WORKED!!

**IF YOU HAVE TIME MACHINE BACKUP FILES IN THE TRASH:

"EMPTY TRASH" WILL HAVE ISSUES WHEN THE DISK YOU USE TO BACKUP ON IS CONNECTED.

I EJECTED MY EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE- PROBLEM SOLVED. http://osxdaily.com/2013/08/12/delete-time-machine-backups-empty-trash/

Thank you so much Linc Davis - that was very helpful as I have just had that problem and thought I would have to have a series of phone calls or emails to Apple support. Much appreciated :-)

guys I think i may have found the solution

it is a simple fix, after days of searching and frustration i finally got it:

you can find it in the following link:

http://osxdaily.com/2013/08/12/delete-time-machine-backups-empty-trash/

hope it helps i know how frustrating that can be

The recommendation from Bumper947, "open trash then hold down command/option/shift/delete" worked perfectly on my Mac Pro running OS X 10.10.3. Also, I note that it appears that in the future, the best way to delete Time Machine backups from the backup drive (not the trash) is to do it in Time Machine.

Great suggestion! Worked perfectly on my Mac Pro running OS X 10.10.3.

I found this easy:

Simply eject the drive and connect it to another Mac,if it is ejectable and if you have another Mac, that is. Then trash away!

I know this is a little late, but I just had the problem you described because I foolishly deleted Time Machine Backups putting them in regular Trash. I finally stumbled across a way to get them out of trash. It took some time for Trash to count the items to delete, but it got there in less than an hour. The I opened Trash. On the toolbar is a symbol that looks like a giant asterisk. I clicked on it and it had an option to Empty Trash which I did select. It didn't take long and the Time Machine items were GONE.