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Trash Problems, Pls Help!

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eljeyy

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 15, 2015
13
0
Hey there.
So I am selling my mac and I thought I would delete all the files off (other than applications) to make it clean. I moved like 10,000 files into my trash (everything under the 'all my files' tab). I was hesitant to delete as I thought deleted all those files might effect performance or be an important file just for the mac to operate.
I then found that there's a much easier way to do what I was trying to do (creating a new admin account and deleting your old one). but now all these files are in my trash, alot of them dont allow my to 'put back' so my question is this. If I
A) Create the new admin account and delete my old one with all the trashed files will my computer still run fine.
or
B) If I just empty my trash am I going to run into any issues?

any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
LJ
 
Gregg2

Gregg2

macrumors 604
May 22, 2008
7,189
1,179
Milwaukee, WI
eljeyy said:
Hey there.
So I am selling my mac and I thought I would delete all the files off (other than applications) to make it clean. I moved like 10,000 files into my trash (everything under the 'all my files' tab). I was hesitant to delete as I thought deleted all those files might effect performance or be an important file just for the mac to operate.
I then found that there's a much easier way to do what I was trying to do (creating a new admin account and deleting your old one). but now all these files are in my trash, alot of them dont allow my to 'put back' so my question is this. If I
A) Create the new admin account and delete my old one with all the trashed files will my computer still run fine.
or
B) If I just empty my trash am I going to run into any issues?

any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
LJ
Click to expand...

A) No, it won't.
B) Yes, you will.

Unfortunately, you've made a big mistake deleting things that you don't know what they are or do. If you recover from this, stay out of the All My Files "tab".

Do you have a complete backup from prior to putting all that in the Trash? (or a clone)
 
E

eljeyy

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 15, 2015
13
0
I dont think I have a backup.
Im looking under time machine and don't see anything.
Thanks
 
garirry

garirry

macrumors 68000
Apr 27, 2013
1,543
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Canada is my city
If you want to sell your mac, backup all your files, launch recovery (Command+R), format the drive and reinstall the system from scratch. Then, don't configure it or anything and it will be like new for the new owner.
 
E

eljeyy

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 15, 2015
13
0
Unfortunately I dont have a external HD large enough to backup my computer as it will take 500GB+
I am currently transferring just the applications onto an external HD.
I will then do the factory reset, and then transfer the files from the external HD onto the computer.
Does this sound like it will work out fine?
 
garirry

garirry

macrumors 68000
Apr 27, 2013
1,543
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Just backup important files; plus, certain apps won't work if you just copy them. Then you can do a factory reset as I mentioned in my previous post.
 
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eljeyy

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 15, 2015
13
0
How will i know what files are important?
I dont need anything on the mac that ill be selling
unless you mean to backup the apps
thanks
 
garirry

garirry

macrumors 68000
Apr 27, 2013
1,543
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Canada is my city
If you really don't need any files on your computer, then you can just do everything that I mentioned in my post (deactivate iCloud, deauthorize iTunes, and format drive and reinstall). Double-check in your documents, music, pictures, and all those folders if you have anything you want to save.
 
E

eljeyy

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 15, 2015
13
0
And if I go with that route. the thousands of files in my trash should not effect how the newly updated system will run, correct?
 
garirry

garirry

macrumors 68000
Apr 27, 2013
1,543
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Canada is my city
If you format your drive (that means, erasing your hard drive), none of the files will exist on your hard drive anymore (technically, they will, but they will be unaccessible until they are overwritten).
 
E

eljeyy

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 15, 2015
13
0
Okay, So do I just need to sign out of icloud by going to Settings>icloud>Sign out, or is it more complicated then that?
 
garirry

garirry

macrumors 68000
Apr 27, 2013
1,543
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Canada is my city
First, yes, click "sign out" in the iCloud menu. When it asks you something, choose "Delete from Mac". Then, open iTunes, click "Store" on the menu bar and choose "deauthorize computer". Finally, restart your computer by holding Command+R and it'll boot into recovery. Choose disk utility, select your hard drive, select "format", and enter "Macintosh HD" as the name. Then close it, select "reinstall OS X", select your hard drive, and follow the instructions. When it's done, shut down your computer.

Obviously, don't reinstall now. You will need the specs of the machine if you want to sell it.
 
Taz Mangus

Taz Mangus

macrumors 604
Mar 10, 2011
7,815
3,504
eljeyy said:
Okay, So do I just need to sign out of icloud by going to Settings>icloud>Sign out, or is it more complicated then that?
Click to expand...

Before you erase the hard drive to re-install OS X, turn on file vault and when it finishes, erase the hard drive and re-install OS X. By turning on file vault you will be encrypting the hard drive which will ensure that the data could not be recovered by the new owner. A good way to make sure that the hard drive gets erased properly.
 
garirry

garirry

macrumors 68000
Apr 27, 2013
1,543
3,904
Canada is my city
Taz Mangus said:
Before you erase the hard drive to re-install OS X, turn on file vault and when it finishes, erase the hard drive and re-install OS X. By turning on file vault you will be encrypting the hard drive which will ensure that the data could not be recovered by the new owner. A good way to make sure that the hard drive gets erased properly.
Click to expand...

A simpler way is to erase your hard drive fully (click "security options" in disk utility and choose the second option) which also guarantees that no one will be able to access your files, however it'll take up to 2-3 hours.
 
Taz Mangus

Taz Mangus

macrumors 604
Mar 10, 2011
7,815
3,504
garirry said:
A simpler way is to erase your hard drive fully (click "security options" in disk utility and choose the second option) which also guarantees that no one will be able to access your files, however it'll take up to 2-3 hours.
Click to expand...

I was thinking that as well but it seems that maybe using file vault could be better because it encrypts the data on the disk. Not sure if failed vault would take longer then a 2-pass zero erase.
 
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