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High Sierra will not move file to trash

When I try to delete a file, in particular a screen shot, to trash... the system seems to hang up and tells me (with a progress bar) that is moving it yet 24 hours later it still has not deleted it??? Any one else having the same problem?

Posted on Nov 17, 2017 8:56 PM

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Posted on Nov 20, 2017 6:00 PM

Hello, RodN77.

Welcome to Apple Support Communities.

It's my understanding that you're unable to delete a screenshot on your Mac. I may be able to help with this. I'd try closing out any or all programs that are currently running, then attempt to delete that file. If it still doesn't work, restart your Mac and try again. Check out this article that may help as well: If you can‘t empty the Trash on your Mac

Try these solutions if you can't empty the Trash or move a file to the Trash.

If your Mac says that the file is in use

  1. Quit any app that you were using with the file, then empty the Trash.
  2. If that doesn't work, the app might have one or more background processes that are using the file. Restart your Mac, then empty the Trash.
  3. If that doesn't work, you might have a startup item or login item that is using the file. To temporarily prevent such items from opening automatically, start up in safe mode by holding down the Shift key while your Mac starts up. Then empty the Trash and restart your Mac normally.

If you can't delete the file for other reasons

  1. Start up from macOS Recovery by holding down Command-R while your Mac starts up.
  2. When the macOS Utilities window appears, select Disk Utility and click Continue.
  3. In Disk Utility, select the disk that contains the file that you want to delete. Then use the First Aid feature of Disk Utility to repair that disk.
  4. Quit Disk Utility, then restart your Mac and empty the Trash.
Let me know if this helps.

Thank you for using Apple Support Communities.

Cheers!
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High Sierra will not move file to trash

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