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Cannot empty trash anymore - stuck!

W

Woutje

macrumors member
Original poster
Aug 21, 2005
47
10
I cannot empty the trash anymore since the upgrade to Lion.

I've tried the usual tricks like "permanent emptying" or doing rm-rf through the terminal, but they all get stuck.

Also verifying the disk and restoring permissions didn't change anything.

It says preparing to empty 6 items, and nothing more happens. When I try to cancel, it stays stuck until I relaunch finder itself.

Any other ideas?

BTW, I have a custom SSD installed. Maybe related?
 
Ok, I figured it out.

I had to start in target disk mode and delete the files using another Mac via the terminal.

Solved!
 
Woutje said:
Ok, I figured it out.

I had to start in target disk mode and delete the files using another Mac via the terminal.

Solved!
Click to expand...

But then after that, the trash started working fine with no problem? I am having the same problem and I do also have an SSD installed here. I don't have any Macbook Pro on hand right now.

Thanks for any help.

Cheers,
Erick Pessôa
 
Same situation for me, but no SSD disk

Hi,

I have the same problem, when trying to empty it, a dialog comes up and say "deleting 527 files" but the progress bar never starts. Can not stop it either. I have run both DiskWarrior and the Disk utility (DVD boot) but it didn't help. I have not an SSD disk, so it can not be because of that.

Really irritating!
 
Lion Cache Cleaner app does a better job at clearing the trash from stubborn files.
 
Next time try


1. Open Applications....... Utilities ....... Terminal
2. Copy and paste ( chflags -R nouchg ) inside terminal screen. do not press return yet
3. Open trash bin
4. Press command-A to select all files at once
5. Drag them all inside the Terminal screen
6. Press return
7. You are done! close everything. open trash and delete all your files.
 
Can't empty trash ?

Hey! Download "onyx" app.( free) It will empty the trash anytime. You have to find it in the menus of onyx. the app can do many other things too. Maybe after using it to empty your trash, it will solve the problem. hope so
DICKSTER-----
 
Quad5Ny said:
Same problem on my 2010 Air (w/ Toshiba SSD). Restarting fixed it.
Click to expand...


I restarted many times and did not work. I used the Target Mode suggested here and then was finally able to clean the trash. Seems that one file specifically was creating all the trouble. Now all it's normal.

Cheers,
Erick Pessôa
 
- Restart your mac
- Open terminal
- type "sudo rm -rf ~/.Trash/*" without quote
- press enter
- type your password
- press enter

viola...
 
I wrote a small applescript to do this

I've had this problem so much that I made this
do shell script "sudo rm -rf ~/.Trash/*" with administrator privileges
It will force empty your trash for you.
 
Worked!

That whole Terminal thing really does work, for anyone who was wondering. Thanks, Cryptooth and LIJRobert!
 
Totally WORKED!

Yup the terminal command did the trick! :)
Thanks, Cryptooth and LIJRobert
 
Empty Trash On Macbook

It wont let me empty my trash on my macbook, firstly it says secure empty trash, I click that and then it says remove unlocked items or remove all items.

I jave tried clicking both of these numerous times, can anybody help with my problem.

many thanks :)
 
clouts said:
It wont let me empty my trash on my macbook, firstly it says secure empty trash, I click that and then it says remove unlocked items or remove all items.

I jave tried clicking both of these numerous times, can anybody help with my problem.

many thanks :)
Click to expand...
How about trying the advice already given in this thread?
 
You Guys Are Complicating This Too Much

When you are deleting something and the trash gets stuck, more often than not it's because Finder is busy and does not allow the trash process to complete. To fix this, just open your activity monitor, and force quit the "finder" process. You should now be able to empty your trash, and put to the trash anything in finder that you wanted to delete.
 
Also, if you're sure you won't need to recover anything later, go into your Finder preferences and turn off Empty Trash Securely. What the Mac does when it empties the trash is it stores your files in blocks of memory that can be overwritten, which takes more time.
 
Cannot empty trash anymore - stuck

Hi !
I am unable to empty trash and could follow your except how to copy and paste ( chflags - R- nouchg) inside terminal screen. I could reach upto terminal but could not locate, copy (chflags - R- nouchg).


djrbx said:
Next time try


1. Open Applications....... Utilities ....... Terminal
2. Copy and paste ( chflags -R nouchg ) inside terminal screen. do not press return yet
3. Open trash bin
4. Press command-A to select all files at once
5. Drag them all inside the Terminal screen
6. Press return
7. You are done! close everything. open trash and delete all your files.
Click to expand...


----------

HI
I am ne to Macrumors.
I am stuck with my Mac Air OSX 10.8 & unable to empty Trash.
I came across onyx but could not find in APP Store.
Please let me know how to download.


DICKNPHYL said:
Hey! Download "onyx" app.( free) It will empty the trash anytime. You have to find it in the menus of onyx. the app can do many other things too. Maybe after using it to empty your trash, it will solve the problem. hope so
DICKSTER-----
Click to expand...
 
Well, I tried all of the options on this page... and no banana for almost all of them.

Restarting was a waste of time. Finder/Activity monitor didn't work. The Terminal commands no longer work with 10.10, but I assume this is because of Apple patching the Shellshock vulnerability. I didn't have another Mac to try Target Mode.

In any case, Onyx saved the day. What a program! It took hours but did the job.
 
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