Emptying the trash can

[crazycat]

I downloaded some World of Warcraft mods and i wanted to delete a few of them. I draged them to the trash can but for some odd reason i can not delete them. It gave me like 50 names of files that are locked but when i look into the trash can there are only 3. Is there a way that i can delete everything in my trash can even if its locked?

 

[GoCubsGo]

I had this problem. are they locked or are they in use? If they're in use I removed my program files using AppZapper google for it.
Otherwise, I'm of no use to you. Sorry.

 

[yippy]

Yes, there are a few ways to force empty the trash. If you search something like versiontracker.com or macupdates.com there should be a bunch of free utilities that will do this for you. The other way is to use terminal commands. However, terminal can get you into a lot of trouble if you don't know what you are doing/type the wrong thing.

if you want to do the terminal route, here is the series of commands.

Type "cd /.trashes" then hit enter. Then type "sudo rm -rf .". Both thing should be typed without the quotes. NOTE: there is an intentional period at the end of the last command. The danger here is the "sudo rm" command, it will delete anything, even your whole system, if you give it the wrong file path.

EDIT: The reason it lists so many files when you only see 3 is probably that one of the files in there is an application. Applications are actually packages that contain many files that are just hidden from the user.

 

[GilGrissom]

I've had similar problems aswell. It seems to happen randomly (but that may be because I just haven't seena pattern yet). The usual way I get around it is to reboot and try again, making sure its the first thing I do when I log on, with no programs open.

 

[MacBoobsPro]

I've had similar problems aswell. It seems to happen randomly (but that may be because I just haven't seena pattern yet). The usual way I get around it is to reboot and try again, making sure its the first thing I do when I log on, with no programs open.

If you have 'locked' items in your trash press 'option' key (Alt for switchers) when you select Empty Trash.

If it says they are in use. Try quiting all apps then Emptying trash. If they still are 'in use' just trash them after a restart.

Easy, no need for 3rd party stuff!

 

[GilGrissom]

If you have 'locked' items in your trash press 'option' key (Alt for switchers) when you select Empty Trash.

If it says they are in use. Try quiting all apps then Emptying trash. If they still are 'in use' just trash them after a restart.

Easy, no need for 3rd party stuff!

Exactly.

OO, thanks for reminding me about that option key method, I've used it before (mixed results) but totally forgot about it.

The fact that I have this problem quite regularly and my trash is currently empty proves you don't always need 3rd party apps.

 

[crazycat]

If you have 'locked' items in your trash press 'option' key (Alt for switchers) when you select Empty Trash.

Worked very well, thank you very much.