El Capitan - Trash won't empty! Tried the community suggestions already.

Question

Level 1

9 points

El Capitan - Trash won't empty! Tried the community suggestions already.

I read all the other threads about it, and I tried practically all the suggestions. Nothing worked.

From the terminal command, to the option command delete...
I have a 4Tb external hard drive, that act as my backup for all my other hard drives, iPod, and for my thumb drives, Grad School, and my numerous movies and tv series. It is plugged on my iMac, running El Capitan.

The only thing I didn't do of all the threads suggestions' - because I can't - is to format my external hard drive.
But 3 months ago, after transferring the series I had on my 500Gb hard drive to my 4Tb one, I realised that I didn't want to keep 2 of the series. So I moved them - their folders) to the Trash.

So my nightmare started. I can't delete it from the trash, no matter what I do.

I click delete, and it says "The operation can be completes because the item "TVSERIES" is in use. That message showed all the time I was trying the suggestions.

It seems to think the hard drive is using the file, but the file can't even be found at the hard drive no more. I don't know how to make iMac understand that my hard drive isn't using it at all.

Anyone has any idea how to solve this issue?

Thanks

iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2012)

Posted on Jun 25, 2016 8:45 PM

Reply

Answer 1

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,739 points

Jun 25, 2016 10:49 PM in response to Letslucy

Please open the Trash and select the items that you can't delete. Right-click or control-click. From the popup menu, select

Delete immediately...

Confirm when prompted.

Reply

Answer 2

cdhw

Level 4

3,594 points

Jun 26, 2016 5:27 AM in response to Letslucy

How are you making the backups? Time Machine locks its backup files to ensure that the integrity of the backups is not damaged by, for example, users deciding to delete files from them.

C.

Reply

Answer 3

appreciate

Level 4

1,278 points

Jun 26, 2016 5:41 AM in response to Letslucy

For normal trashing we restart system from apple logo & empty the trash .

Secondly , click on finder > finder preferences & keep the settings as in screen shot . also an apple article is there for guidance .

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

Reply

Answer 4

appreciate

Level 4

1,278 points

Jun 26, 2016 8:06 AM in response to Letslucy

I want to add one more point if you open trash directly from dock and do a right click on it a pop will show : you want to skip or continue .

If you click on continue it will not allow to empty the trash , if click on skip it will skip it , but would be running in the back ground .

So make a habit of restarting from apple logo & emptying the trash or you can go to activity monitor quit / force quit the application .

Reply

Answer 5

Letslucy Author

Level 1

9 points

Jun 27, 2016 12:27 PM in response to cdhw

Hi cdhw, I don't use Time Machine.
I simply drag the file I want, from one hard drive no another, or cmd+c cmd+v, when I want to back up.

Reply

Answer 6

Letslucy Author

Level 1

9 points

Jun 27, 2016 12:31 PM in response to Linc Davis

Hi Linc Davis, I tried this many times already. I also restarted my mac, and nothing changes.

The folder I need to delete from the trash, alway appears in a faded mode.

Reply

Answer 7

cdhw

Level 4

3,594 points

Jun 27, 2016 2:04 PM in response to Letslucy

Have you worked through this article from Apple:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201583

?

C.

Reply

Answer 8

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,739 points

Jun 27, 2016 2:38 PM in response to Letslucy

Back up all data before proceeding.

Select the text on the line below by dragging across it. Don't include the blank space at the end of the line. Only the text should be highlighted.

touch -t 198001010000

Copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C.

Launch the Terminal application in any one of the following ways:

☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)

☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.

☞ Open LaunchPad and start typing the name.

Paste into the Terminal window by pressing command-V, then press the space bar.

Now switch to the Finder and and select all the item(s) in question. If there are thousands of items, only select a hundred or so. Drag into the Terminal window. More text will be added to what you entered.

Click in the Terminal window to activate it, then press return.

Wait for a new line ending in a dollar sign ($) to appear. You can then quit Terminal.

Relaunch the Finder. You should now be able to manage the files as usual.

Reply

Answer 9

askmrmac

Level 1

104 points

Jun 27, 2016 3:46 PM in response to Letslucy

My favorite freeware scriptware that force empties trash is called:

Trash It! http://nonamescriptware.com/

It just works. But you better know exactly what you are force trashing if you use it.

If you mess something up, trash something you shouldn't have, it is your own darn fault.

Requires Admin credentials

It's free, but it will ask if you want to "donate" after you use it.

Reply