Can't delete folder from a directory.

[Gwaredd Thomas]

Hello mates,

I'm running MacOS High Sierra Ver. 10.13.4. There is a folder stuck on my desktop that I cannot delete. I've tried mostly everything: Trash it!, AppCleaner, and the Clean My Mac Shredder, and none have worked. This is really annoying. It appears deleted as long as my system is running, but once I shut it down and do a cold boot it's back again. This is the only folder that I've not been able to delete in the 20 years I've been using Mac's. Help!

Cheers!

 

[MC6800]

What's the folder named? It might be being created by some app. If so, there are ways to track that down.

 

[jamietshaw]

So are you saying that you can delete the folder, but it gets recreated next time you start up? Something must be doing that. You could try looking in ~/Library/LaunchAgents or /Library/LaunchAgents or /Library/LaunchDaemons to see if there is anything in there that might possibly be the cause.

 

[Gwaredd Thomas]

What's the folder named? It might be being created by some app. If so, there are ways to track that down.

The folder is named "+Williamson". It was just used to store downloaded Youtube files. I have had other such folders and had no problem deleting them when finished. This one is something else. I've tried 'jamietshaw's' suggestion but could find nothing.

Cheers!

 

[bslarch]

The folder is named "+Williamson". It was just used to store downloaded Youtube files. I have had other such folders and had no problem deleting them when finished. This one is something else. I've tried 'jamietshaw's' suggestion but could find nothing.

Cheers!

Can you rename the folder to something else and then delete it?

 

[MC6800]

I'm guessing you have some download plugin with that folder set as the download destination. It's most likely what's recreating the folder (upon not finding it). Change that destination to another (existing) folder.

 

[Gwaredd Thomas]

Can you rename the folder to something else and then delete it?

I've tried that several times and deleted it but as soon as I did a cold boot it was back again and renames itself back to the original: quite frightening actually.

 

[Gwaredd Thomas]

I've tried that several times and deleted it but as soon as I did a cold boot it was back again and renames itself back to the original: quite frightening actually.

I believe I have solved the problem. There were multiple files downloaded from Youtube and stored in a folder named '+Williamson". I used a program called 'iTube Studio'. What I considered was that some error had occurred in the process and the folder some how got trapped: why, who knows? In any event, I deleted 'iTube Studio' and reinstalled it, shut my system down several times and rebooted. Finally, I think the folder is finally gone. But, I'm not holding my breath since I've done several things in the past--except this--and it's always returned. So I just have to wait and see.

I want to thank you chaps for taking the time to respond.

Cheers!

 

[BLUEDOG314]

Be very careful because there is no undoing this if you screw up, the folder does not go to the trash first. Open terminal and type “sudo rm -rf ~/Desktop/NameOfDirectory”

You’ll be prompted for password, enter it then press enter again. Also a safe way to make sure you don’t delete the wrong thing is after you type the -rf part, hit spacebar then just drag the folder into the terminal window and it will complete the path.

 

[jbarley]

Be very careful because there is no undoing this if you screw up, the folder does not go to the trash first. Open terminal and type “sudo rm -rf ~/Desktop/NameOfDirectory”

You’ll be prompted for password, enter it then press enter again. Also a safe way to make sure you don’t delete the wrong thing is after you type the -rf part, hit spacebar then just drag the folder into the terminal window and it will complete the path.

Ditto to the safe way, drag-n-drop.