No empty trash option in iMovie v10 Mavericks

smith9 is correct, i just tried it.

I created an event and project, then imported a bunch of clips to the event and composed them in the project.

After publishing the project i wanted to delete the event and project as i have the original files stored else where and I didn't want my iMovie getting cluttered.

So I highlighted the event and selected 'File' then 'Move event to trash'. I did the same for the project as well.

At this point you would think the files should go to your normal desktop trash bin, but in fact they go to a folder within your 'iMovie Library' Package contents called '_Trash' (see pic).

This is a temporary folder, and allows iMovie to quickly retrieve the files if you decide actually you did want them.

However when you close your iMovie application they are removed, so don't go into 'Finder' and start deleting them. Your Mac does it for you.

Hope that helps.

Thank you. I wish this info was printed in the new iMovie 10 manual. Its the same function as an operation, but so comourflaged in terms of the previous version, where you can see your deletes in the bin.

And thank you specifically for the information and link above about deleting the old Event and Project folders. I have just updated my old iMovie '11 (v 9) Library to the new iMovie 10, and have moved the new Library to an external hd to free up space on my iMac. I moved all contents of the old library to the trash but nothing happened, as per your original question here. So then I realized that all the content was still in those old folders within the Movies folder on the iMac, entitled iMovie Events and iMovie Projects. I could see that the Events and Projects I've created since using iMovie 10 were not in there, so I figured this was just all the files linked to the old version. I tested deleting them by moving something old to the Trash manually from within the Finder. That took care of it; it did go to the Trash and I could empty it, and it was still available in the new Library in iMovie 10. But I was still wary of deleting the ENTIRE Event and Projects Libraries before making sure that they were really not needed anymore. This page of the iMovie Support files online confirmed it. I did a lot of looking and never found this on the computer based Help file. Thank you! Now I can delete without worry and will enjoy my new-found 1.3 TB of hard disk space!

Thanks, but it looks like my library file has not been touched and it's still way bigger that it should. What should I do?

The movie clips may still be there. Try this.

- Open finder and Select your "username folder”

- Click and Select the folder named “Movies”

- Find the file “iMovie Library.imovielibrary”, and

- Right Click on it.

- Select menu Option “Show Package Contents”

- Find and Select folder “_Trash”

- Look inside the “_Trash” folder and see if your files are still there.

Hope it helped. 🙂

Thanks, Julio, for a clear answer. It is beyond me why Apple has to make this so difficult. We are not morons. Trashing something already has a failsafe: Before you empty the dock trash you think twice. Jeez. Another odd thing: If there is only one event in the Library, you can't send it to the (preliminary, iMovie only) trash folder. No, you have to create a new, empty event first, then delete the other one. Madness. There should always be clear instructions with any program on how to permanently delete something; privacy is already difficult enough to achieve in this day and age.

I tried Julio M's steps:

- Open finder and Select your "username folder”

- Click and Select the folder named “Movies”

- Find the file “iMovie Library.imovielibrary”, and

- Right Click on it.

- Select menu Option “Show Package Contents”

- Find and Select folder “_Trash”

- Look inside the “_Trash” folder and see if your files are still there.

But I could not find any Trash folder. Maybe it's because I quit iMovie after trashing my clips and then opened it again to try Julio's steps?

-Tom

This suggestion helped me TREMENDOUSLY!!! Just wanted to give an update as to how I had to navigate...

- Open finder and Select your "username folder” - MY FINDER DOESN'T AUTOMATICALLY GIVE ME THIS OPTION.

WHAT I HAD TO DO IS THIS (SORRY FOR ALL THE IMAGE FILES BUT I FELT WAS THE BEST WAY TO SHOW THESE STEPS)...

1. Click on desktop and then click on "Go". Then I had to click on "Computer". This brought up the finder window I needed - not sure why I blacked out some of it, lol.

2. After selecting the option that is your hard drive (you can see I named mine VintageUgly HD) you then should have something that resembles this screen.

3. Click "Users" and then select the proper user... Mine was my name and has a house icon.

4. Open the "Movies" folder

5. For me, when I did this, I got this screen which is different than the other instructions - |Find the file “iMovie Library.imovielibrary” - this was not a file that was available to choose.

5.1 - What I had to do ( I use a right-clicking mouse, mind you) - right-click on the 'iMovies Library' folder, and choose 'Show package contents'!

5.2 - This opened up the folder that was explained in the other instructions "- Find and Select folder “_Trash”

6. When I opened up that file, I saw tons of movies that I had thought were previously deleted - but WERE NOT! I was able to clear 75gigs by then dragging and dropping all of them into the normal trash bin!!!!

I hope this has helped anyone with a Mac like me where the menu's are as cut and dry as others!!!

This suggestion helped me TREMENDOUSLY!!! Just wanted to give an update as to how I had to navigate...

- Open finder and Select your "username folder” - MY FINDER DOESN'T AUTOMATICALLY GIVE ME THIS OPTION.

WHAT I HAD TO DO IS THIS (SORRY FOR ALL THE IMAGE FILES BUT I FELT WAS THE BEST WAY TO SHOW THESE STEPS)...

1. Click on desktop and then click on "Go". Then I had to click on "Computer". This brought up the finder window I needed - not sure why I blacked out some of it, lol.

2. After selecting the option that is your hard drive (you can see I named mine VintageUgly HD) you then should have something that resembles this screen.

3. Click "Users" and then select the proper user... Mine was my name and has a house icon.

4. Open the "Movies" folder

5. For me, when I did this, I got this screen which is different than the other instructions - |Find the file “iMovie Library.imovielibrary” - this was not a file that was available to choose.

5.1 - What I had to do ( I use a right-clicking mouse, mind you) - right-click on the 'iMovies Library' folder, and choose 'Show package contents'!

5.2 - This opened up the folder that was explained in the other instructions "- Find and Select folder “_Trash”

6. When I opened up that file, I saw tons of movies that I had thought were previously deleted - but WERE NOT! I was able to clear 75gigs by then dragging and dropping all of them into the normal trash bin!!!!

I hope this has helped anyone with a Mac like me where the menu's are as cut and dry as others!!!