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Empty Trash
- Thread starter Jonr515
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No and this is probably an incredibly dumb question. Where do I find it and do I just right click delete?
Explained here https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/removing-locked-files-from-trash.2349189/post-31212586
Depending on your macOS version, you might have to temporary give Terminal Full Disk Access
https://support.apple.com/guide/security/controlling-app-access-to-files-secddd1d86a6/web
Depending on your macOS version, you might have to temporary give Terminal Full Disk Access
https://support.apple.com/guide/security/controlling-app-access-to-files-secddd1d86a6/web
OP stated that in the example, there were a few small files in Trash. Presumably that means he checked it before selecting Empty Trash. He then stated that he clicked the "x" and then the Trash was empty.
I recently came upon this problem. On Ventura - but a Google suggests this is not limited to that OS. I'd get the 'Emptying the Trash...' window as above, but then it would just stay there, while clicking the [X] would complete action and close window. Just as you describe.
Anyway, one of the searches suggested going to System Settings > General > Login Items > Open at Login. Make a note of what is in that section (so that you can add them back later, if necessary), and then try deleting one at a time, with a reboot between each. Then try to Empty Trash as normal (I created a doc and then move it to Trash just for that purpose). If it works as expected, you may have found the culprit.
I got lucky with first guess - turns out it was a Dropbox login that caused the problem. Not sure why. I know there had been 'improvements' made to Dropbox recently, but I'm happy to kill it off at login. Interestingly (or maybe just coincidentally), one of the Google threads I found was saying that it was a OneDrive login causing the issue. So maybe these cloud service links are the first thing to look at here?
Anyway, one of the searches suggested going to System Settings > General > Login Items > Open at Login. Make a note of what is in that section (so that you can add them back later, if necessary), and then try deleting one at a time, with a reboot between each. Then try to Empty Trash as normal (I created a doc and then move it to Trash just for that purpose). If it works as expected, you may have found the culprit.
I got lucky with first guess - turns out it was a Dropbox login that caused the problem. Not sure why. I know there had been 'improvements' made to Dropbox recently, but I'm happy to kill it off at login. Interestingly (or maybe just coincidentally), one of the Google threads I found was saying that it was a OneDrive login causing the issue. So maybe these cloud service links are the first thing to look at here?