Jump drive files not Deleting

Question

Level 1

8 points

Jump drive files not Deleting

I've been having an issue when I copy/delete files from jump drives with my MacBook. I have a Late 2011 MBP with OSX 10.9. I can copy/delete files fine but once I delete the files I don't get the space back. I can drag everything to the Trash but when I check available space it still shows that theres something on it. I have done the terminal command to show hidden files but nothing shows up. I been having to use it till it says there not enough free space then erase the entire thing with disk utility to get the space back. I have 5 different jump drives and they all do the same thing. I have them formatted to Ex-FAT so I can move between Mac and PC.

Any Ideas?

Thanks

Mark

MacBook Pro, OS X Mavericks (10.9)

Posted on Nov 4, 2013 7:26 PM

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Answer 1

braden85

Community Specialist

Nov 7, 2013 8:41 AM in response to mjpatera

Hey mjpatera!

One thing I noticed that was missing from the steps to delete a file from a flash drive in your post is actually emptying the trash after the file has been moved there. Try these steps for deleting a file off of your flash drive:

You can't empty the Trash or move a file to the Trash

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1526

How to delete a file

Drag an item's icon to the Trash (in the Dock), or select the item and press Command-Delete.

Choose Empty Trash from the Finder menu.

Thanks for using the Apple Support Communities!

Cheers,

Braden

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Answer 2

mjpatera Author

Level 1

8 points

Nov 7, 2013 5:36 PM in response to braden85

After I empty the trash I DO get the space back. Is there a way that I can set it up so I don't have to delete files and empty trash everytime I want to get rid of a file? If I move a file to the trash then connect jump drive to my Windows PC it still shows the space as being used. There is a folder called ".Trashes" where I can find the file and delete it there to get the space back but it's a little annoying having to do this.

Thanks for the help.

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Answer 3

braden85

Community Specialist

Nov 8, 2013 2:53 PM in response to mjpatera

Hey again mjpatera!

While this process cannot be performed automatically (which is beneficial if you were to accidentally drag an important file into the trash from the flash drive), you can speed up the process by using a keyboard shortcut for emptying the trash:

OS X keyboard shortcuts

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1343

Command-Shift-Delete	Empty Trash
Command-Shift-Option-Delete	Empty Trash without confirmation dialog

Take care, and thanks for visiting the Apple Support Communities.

-Braden

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