I have an IMac Snow Leopard 10.6.8 I have several folders that I created. I put them in Trash and attempted "secure empty". After proceeding to empty for a short while I received this message: "The operation can't be completed because you don't hav

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I have an IMac Snow Leopard 10.6.8 I have several folders that I created. I put them in Trash and attempted "secure empty". After proceeding to empty for a short while I received this message: "The operation can't be completed because you don't hav

I have an IMac Snow Leopard 10.6.8 I have several folders that I created. I put them in Trash and attempted "secure empty". After proceeding to empty for a short while I received this message: "The operation can't be completed because you don't have permission to access some of the items". I then secure emptied the files in the folders. When I tried again with the empty folders I received the same message. In the five years I've had this computer I've never had this experience.

iMac, Mac OS X (10.6.7)

Posted on Jul 31, 2015 10:55 AM

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Answer 1

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jeremy_v

Community Specialist

Aug 2, 2015 9:06 AM in response to redfish1127

Good day redfish1127,

Thank you for visiting Apple Support Communities.

It looks like there are a few folders that can't be deleted from your iMac, and you see the message "The operation can't be completed because you don't have permission to access some of the items."

Deleting the contents of the folders was a good step. Since the behavior is isolated to specific folders, try the steps under the "Emptying the Trash" section at the bottom of Troubleshooting permissions issues in Mac OS X.

Best Regards.

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Answer 2

redfish1127 Author

Level 1

8 points

Aug 4, 2015 10:11 AM in response to jeremy_v

Thank you very much. I've isolated the few files and folders where I've had this issue, so it's really not causing me a problem at present. I read the article you suggested. When I feel comfortable with the repair process I may try it. Keeping in mind the law of unintended consequences.

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