simple Trash question

[kvdv]

When i open the Trash, i can sort everything by file name, by date modified or date created. But the most logical way of sorting the files would be "date deleted", but somehow i can't find out how to do this.
I really hope this is possible!.. :)

[bartelby]

If there's still stuff in the trash then it hasn't been deleted. You need to empty trash to get rid of them.

[robbieduncan]

If there's still stuff in the trash then it hasn't been deleted. You need to empty trash to get rid of them.

I think he wants to sort the Trash by "Date file was added to Trash". I can't see a way of doing it.

[bartelby]

I think he wants to sort the Trash by "Date file was added to Trash". I can't see a way of doing it.

It was the "Date Deleted" that confused me.:o

[Nick T.]

When i open the Trash, i can sort everything by file name, by date modified or date created. But the most logical way of sorting the files would be "date deleted", but somehow i can't find out how to do this.
I really hope this is possible!.. :)In OS X the implementation of a "safe delete function" (Trash) is badly crippled.

It would be nice if Trash allowed viewing the date of deletion.

It would be nice if Trash allowed single-click restoration of files to their original directories.

It would be nice if Trash allowed deletion of individual files from the Trash.

It would be nice if Trash allowed ....

There is tremendous pressure on Apple not to repair Trash and make it functional because then it would be too much like the hated Windows with its fully functional Recycle Bin.

[Cromulent]

It would be nice if Trash allowed viewing the date of deletion.


If it is in the trash then it has not been deleted rendering the above option useless.

[Nick T.]

If it is in the trash then it has not been deleted rendering the above option useless.Lack of thought makes the quoted post useless.

But, to avoid bruising the sensibilities of those Mac fanatics that feel the need to fall back on semantics to rationalize their weak defenses of Mac's failings, I hereby formally reword my comment:

It would be nice if Trash allowed viewing the date of trashing.

[richard.mac]

In OS X the implementation of a "safe delete function" (Trash) is badly crippled.

It would be nice if Trash allowed viewing the date of deletion.

It would be nice if Trash allowed single-click restoration of files to their original directories.

It would be nice if Trash allowed deletion of individual files from the Trash.

It would be nice if Trash allowed ....

There is tremendous pressure on Apple not to repair Trash and make it functional because then it would be too much like the hated Windows with its fully functional Recycle Bin.

i agree. this is what it should look like… who knows i might even have access to the 10.5.3 beta?

[kvdv]

Haha :)

Indeed, that's what i'm looking for!

Maybe there's 3rd party software supporting these features?

-Kris

[heatmiser]

think different™. if the date deleted were an important part of the trash function apple would surely have included it. man i love apple!

you're probably a switcher from one of those operating systems like linux or unix or windows that allowed the antiquated notion of knowing when you deleted stuff.

/fanboy blindness.

now that's out of the way, yes, this is yet another crucial function missing from the hackneyed trash folder. hopefully os x will join the other 99% of operating systems out there someday and let us see when we sent files into the trash.

[Dane D.]

kvdv
When i open the Trash, i can sort everything by file name, by date modified or date created. But the most logical way of sorting the files would be "date deleted", but somehow i can't find out how to do this.
I really hope this is possible!..

May I ask why the date is important? In all my years of using Macs, not once did this need come up. Curious about the rationale of this.:confused:

My concept of the trash function is simple - I no longer need that item, so it goes into trash and gets deleted.

[Cromulent]

Lack of thought makes the quoted post useless.

It wasen't lack of thought at all. You said deleted and thus I responded to that.

If you meant something else perhaps you should of put what you meant rather than expecting people to read your mind? I'm not in the habit of assuming what people really mean.

But, to avoid bruising the sensibilities of those Mac fanatics that feel the need to fall back on semantics to rationalize their weak defenses of Mac's failings, I hereby formally reword my comment:

It would be nice if Trash allowed viewing the date of trashing.

I agree it would be useful. Instead of trying to attack people for being 'fanbois' as I have noticed you doing rather irritatingly in a number of threads perhaps you could try making more sensible suggestions like the one you made above.

[soms]

I would just like the restore function, I've yet to figure that one out.

[zephead]

IIRC, Mac OS 9 had a restore function in its Trash, am I right? Apple just inexplicably didn't put that function into OS X for whatever reason, which doesn't make sense.

[heatmiser]

I would just like the restore function, I've yet to figure that one out.

That one too. Absolutely nuts.

[Cromulent]

The biggest problem with the trash in Mac OS X is the name imo. Bring back the Waste Basket Apple!

[TuffLuffJimmy]

Nick T. seems to think everyone is a fanboy, and he loves throwing stones when it isn't need.

anyway, I think the trash needs a new icon as it looks horrible in Leopard. It would be nice if there was a one click restore, but I would think it would be counterintuitive to be able to delete one item at a time, as it would cause people to store items that they actually need in the trash. It's ridiculous how many windows users treat the recycle bin as just another easy access folder.

[weizilla]

Nick T. seems to think everyone is a fanboy, and he loves throwing stones when it isn't need.

anyway, I think the trash needs a new icon as it looks horrible in Leopard. It would be nice if there was a one click restore, but I would think it would be counterintuitive to be able to delete one item at a time, as it would cause people to store items that they actually need in the trash. It's ridiculous how many windows users treat the recycle bin as just another easy access folder.

I don't think deleting one item at a time is counter intuitive. I often have a lot of large files (cd images, movies ... etc) in my trash and sometimes I want to delete just those files to recover hd space but not delete everything else. Right now, I have to resort to moving them out of the trash and deleting them with the command line which is quite a hassle.

[6mt15]

it would cause people to store items that they actually need in the trash. It's ridiculous how many windows users treat the recycle bin as just another easy access folder.

I completely agree, I view the Trash as a system of redundency so that if I accidentally delete something, I can quickly grab it and put it back where it belongs. I agree that a restore option would be useful for that, but as for a "sort by date trashed" option, it seems a bit useless. If I conciously move something to the trash, I almost always empty the trash right after, so I only ever have a couple of files in the Trash at most. I don't see what is the point of having something in the trash if you think you might need it later?

[Nick T.]

I completely agree, I view the Trash as a system of redundency so that if I accidentally delete something, I can quickly grab it and put it back where it belongs. I agree that a restore option would be useful for that, but as for a "sort by date trashed" option, it seems a bit useless. If I conciously move something to the trash, I almost always empty the trash right after, so I only ever have a couple of files in the Trash at most. I don't see what is the point of having something in the trash if you think you might need it later?My friend, who has been an Apple user since before the Macintosh, read this post and said:It's close-minded people like this that give us Mac users a bad name! Just because a few individuals aren't smart enough to see the value of any given function doesn't mean that the function has no value. Sheeesh!Both my Mac and my PC have uncounted features and functions that I have no need for and do not use. That does not mean that I think that they should be removed, nor that people that use them are somehow retarded, or switchers, or fanboys; they are just features that I do not need or have not discovered.

<blasphemy ON> Steve Jobs is not Jesus Christ! <blasphemy OFF>

[observer]

Spotlight finds things in the trash, too. Maybe they think they've solved the problem of finding stuff you threw away, and they don't need to implement sorting by date moved? Does the OS keep track of any other "moved by" date?

[6mt15]

Both my Mac and my PC have uncounted features and functions that I have no need for and do not use. That does not mean that I think that they should be removed, nor that people that use them are somehow retarded, or switchers, or fanboys; they are just features that I do not need or have not discovered.

Maybe you missed my point...I was simply commenting on the fact that such a feature would not be very useful for a person who uses their computer the way I do. I'm sure every single person has different habits in regards to how often they empty their Trash, and what they place in it. If anything, I am genuinely curious as to why someone would have a file that they may still want on their computer sitting in the Trash can. It seems like a dangerous practice.

<blasphemy ON> Steve Jobs is not Jesus Christ! <blasphemy OFF>

Is that really relevant??

[jgv1965]

When i open the Trash, i can sort everything by file name, by date modified or date created. But the most logical way of sorting the files would be "date deleted", but somehow i can't find out how to do this.
I really hope this is possible!.. :)

I can't help but I'd like to say, as a new Mac user, I am really frustrated by this. Yesterday I performed a mass deletion of unwanted files, but - my fault entirely - about 16 really important files went with them. My trash bin is quite full because I want the option of restoring stuff if I delete it by accident. So I go into Trash to find and restore the important files, and what do I discover? That I cannot sort the contents of trash by "date deleted" and therefore there is no way of telling which babies went out with the bathwater. I then had to go individually through more than 1,000 files and guess which ones had been affected by the original deletion. To me, this is a serious argument against swapping Windows for Mac.

[zephead]

I think I figured out a way to arrange your trash by date deleted. It involves Stacks, so it'll only work in Leopard.

Go to the Finder, press cmd+shift+G to bring up the "Go" menu, type in ~/.Trash , and drag the folder icon from the title bar down to the dock to make it a stack. Now, ctrl/2tap/right click on your new stack and click "date added" under "sort by", and click "grid" under "view content as".

Curious that you have to do it with a stack instead of having a column for it in the Finder, but hey, it works for now.

[jgv1965]

I shall have a look at that when I get back home .. I may need some clarification on "2tap" etc (ok, ok, but I'm just starting). Meantime many thanks for taking the trouble. If anyone else has a fix for identifying just-deleted trash, please pitch in.

[Mal]

I think I figured out a way to arrange your trash by date deleted. It involves Stacks, so it'll only work in Leopard.

Go to the Finder, press cmd+shift+G to bring up the "Go" menu, type in ~/.Trash , and drag the folder icon from the title bar down to the dock to make it a stack. Now, ctrl/2tap/right click on your new stack and click "date added" under "sort by", and click "grid" under "view content as".

Curious that you have to do it with a stack instead of having a column for it in the Finder, but hey, it works for now.

Very clever, nice find!

I have to say though, to all of you talking about keeping stuff in the Trash and not deleting it: Why are you putting it in the Trash if you're not sure if you want to delete it? I understand making a mistake, but you then go back and get the file, the Empty the Trash right away! Otherwise, you're probably going to end up doing exactly what you're talking about. Apple doesn't need to implement single file deletion, because it would simply encourage this type of behavior which is not optimal or intended.

jW

[GroovyLinuxGuy]

open Terminal and type:

cd .Trash

ls -ltr

That will give you listing of the files in Trash. Newest at the bottom.

To remove them from the trash either note the names of the files and drag/drop them from finder or type

mv FILENAME /Users/yourname

easy peasy!

[zephead]

I shall have a look at that when I get back home .. I may need some clarification on "2tap" etc (ok, ok, but I'm just starting). Meantime many thanks for taking the trouble. If anyone else has a fix for identifying just-deleted trash, please pitch in.

It's just because there's more than one way to bring up a secondary menu (i.e. right-click menu) on a Mac: You can hold Ctrl and click, two-finger tap-click on the trackpad (can be enabled in KB & Mouse Preferences), or for people with external mice, you can simply right-click, although with the Mighty Mouse you have to enable right-click.

[sOwL]

There is tremendous pressure on Apple not to repair Trash and make it functional because then it would be too much like the hated Windows with its fully functional Recycle Bin.

This rly sounds like "fanboy talking". Why cant people admit that, in some features like the "recycle bin's", windows IS superior. I mean c'mon, windows are ripping off macs for years, why cant macs get some nice features that are already used in windows?

[snberk103]

Very clever, nice find!

I have to say though, to all of you talking about keeping stuff in the Trash and not deleting it: Why are you putting it in the Trash if you're not sure if you want to delete it? I understand making a mistake, but you then go back and get the file, the Empty the Trash right away! Otherwise, you're probably going to end up doing exactly what you're talking about. Apple doesn't need to implement single file deletion, because it would simply encourage this type of behavior which is not optimal or intended.

jW

I agree. Trash is where I put stuff that I know I can delete, and I empty the trash often. For other stuff I have a folder on my desktop called "Hide". Basically, that's where I put all the cr... umm, 'stuff' - that I'm not sure about. Every few months I look at it, realize that I haven't actually looked inside of it for 3 months, and trash the whole thing. However - I always *feel* safer when I put stuff in it because I know its not going anywhere.

In my world, trash = trash, and the Hide folder is the floor beside my desk. Tentacles and all.

[randallking]

Very clever, nice find!

I have to say though, to all of you talking about keeping stuff in the Trash and not deleting it: Why are you putting it in the Trash if you're not sure if you want to delete it? I understand making a mistake, but you then go back and get the file, the Empty the Trash right away! Otherwise, you're probably going to end up doing exactly what you're talking about. Apple doesn't need to implement single file deletion, because it would simply encourage this type of behavior which is not optimal or intended.

jW

I use my Trash as a place I put stuff that I *think* I want to eventually delete. I don't want to empty it right away, because I could end up needing one of those files either days, weeks, or even months later.

In my view, Microsoft gets this right, because the Recycle Bin is set to not exceed a certain percentage of the drive or a specified size. Then I can move things to the Recycle Bin at my heart's content and *never* worry about emptying it. It just removes the older items automatically as I move newer ones to the Recycle Bin.

Now picture a Recycle Bin or Trash that may contain hundreds or thousands of items. Imagine that you just moved a few dozen or a hundred files to the Trash a few moments ago, but now you decide you want to replace all those items. It's a little cumbersome to try and determine which files were just moved to the Trash unless you have a "Date Deleted" or similar feature.

Maybe some of you don't work with this many files, but some of us do.

Anyway, just my two cents.

[randallking]

I think I figured out a way to arrange your trash by date deleted. It involves Stacks, so it'll only work in Leopard.

Go to the Finder, press cmd+shift+G to bring up the "Go" menu, type in ~/.Trash , and drag the folder icon from the title bar down to the dock to make it a stack. Now, ctrl/2tap/right click on your new stack and click "date added" under "sort by", and click "grid" under "view content as".

Curious that you have to do it with a stack instead of having a column for it in the Finder, but hey, it works for now.

This was an *excellent* idea and allowed me to do just what I needed! Thank you so much!

[iGnome]

No harm re booting an old thread. In fact it just serves to highlight how completely stupid the trash on OSX is. Like the guy who started this post I just 'heard' a zapping noise that let me know that I had trashed something by accident but what? To be able to goto date trashed and see instantly would be brilliant and not too taxing as a concept or implementation exercise. Totally usesless that I now have to go through the whole trash bin to try and work out what it was.

[TuffLuffJimmy]

It's a little cumbersome to try and determine which files were just moved to the Trash unless you have a "Date Deleted" or similar feature.

This is exactly why Apple added the "Date Added" sorting option to the Finder.

I'll just add my input as a firm believer in that the trash folder is a place for files that you want deleted. It's just not safe to put files you might need later in there. In fact it's kinda silly to do something like that. There are an infinite number of other folders you could put your junk in and for some reason people believe that the trash folder would be a good place to put files.

If I ever accidentally delete something that I didn't want to I have a few back up drives that I store all my files from the passed few months.