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delete stubborn files?

macrlz9

macrlz9

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
i'm sure this has been covered before as i have seen it posted somewhere but i can not remember how to delete a file using the terminal that will not delete! i can put it in the trash but it won't empty the trash, i can restart adn still it won't delete, i can change the permissions and still no luck... .the files name is "Stuff" and it's on my desktop so if anyone knows what i need to type in the terminal to delete it i think the path would be Macintosh HD>Users>Anthony>Desktop>Stuff but any help would be greatly appreciated as the full trash can looks messy and is driving me nuts!!!!!! thanks 😀
 
Open Terminal.

Type "sudo rm -f " (no quotes, don't hit return yet, but note the trailing space).

In Finder, click on the offending file and drag it to the Terminal window - the full path should fill in after what you'd typed before.

Verify that it's the correct file, then hit enter. You'll be asked for your admin password. Enter it. The file should go away. Post back if it doesn't.

Note: try the above first without the "sudo ", and that might also work. It's a bit safer, but you might need the sudo ("super-user do").
 
well it won't work cuz it's a directory, and there are a lot of files in that directory, i tried deleting them individually but none of the files would delete like normal... how do i delete a whole directory?
 
macrlz9 said:
well it won't work cuz it's a directory, and there are a lot of files in that directory, i tried deleting them individually but none of the files would delete like normal... how do i delete a whole directory?
Click to expand...
Change the "-f" to "-rf". And be sure there's a space afterwards:

sudo rm -rf /the/complete/path/to/the/folder
 
jsw said:
Change the "-f" to "-rf". And be sure there's a space afterwards:

sudo rm -rf /the/complete/path/to/the/folder
Click to expand...

wow that worked!!! thanks so much!
 
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