I've tried all the various ways to empty my trash, and nothing is working. I've tried the terminal thing, option empty, moving folders out of trash, etc. Nothing is working. Any other suggestions? Do I need to just wipe my computer and restore to factory?
iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2013), OS X Yosemite (10.10.1)
You can't empty the Trash or move a file to the Trash
Visit The XLab FAQs and read the FAQ on solving Trash issues. You can also try using Trash It! 5.1 to fix the problem. Or you can try this:
Open the Terminal in the Utilities folder and paste the following at the prompt:
sudo rm -Rf ~/.Trash
Press RETURN. Enter your admin password when prompted. It will not echo to the screen. Press RETURN again.
(Should anyone tell you this is dangerous or unnecessary, please ignore the comment.)
sudo rm -Rf ~/.Trash works like a charm - no danger that I could tell 😎
Also a heckuva lot simpler than following all the links and/or downloading an app
Trust Kappy, we do...
Howdy Kappy
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Thanks! But I've done both and to no avail. I'm not sure if this makes a difference, but the files I'm trying to erase are backup folders that I move to the trash from an external drive. I've tried the option thing, trashit, terminal, and even moving them from the trash can to another drive and erasing the folders there - but they remain in the trash can. I'm about to erase everything and start over. At this point I'm not sure that will even work. I'm seeking other options.
Would I be correct to assume these are Time Machine files?
Here is the latest Apple document on the problem.
You are correct on the Time Machine files. is this the cause of my frustrations? I will read throught the link you sent. Oh, and in the process of screwing around with the trash, I got a message that my startup disc is almost full. Thanks in advance for all replies!
There is another document here from the late Pondini, a much respected past contributor.
EDIT
the made life simpler, thanks
Can't empty trash on iMac
