Item in Trash cannot be trashed??

[FunkyPurple]

It says the operation cannot be completed because the item is locked. I've searched hi and low to find a way to unlock the file but I haven't been able to. What should I do?

 

[yellow]

Hold down Option and then select Empty Trash from the Finder menu.

 

[iLikeMyiMac]

When I get that I usually try a secure empty trash. I don't know why but it seems to work.

 

[coconn06]

It says the operation cannot be completed because the item is locked. I've searched hi and low to find a way to unlock the file but I haven't been able to. What should I do?

Worse comes to come, just open up the Terminal and type "rm -rf ~/.Trash/*" which will delete all items in your trash. Or "rm -rf ~/.Trash/file" to delete only the file or directory "file" from the Trash.

 

[yellow]

Or "rm -rf ~/.Trash/file" to delete only the file or directory "file" from the Trash.

For the record, the -r flag isn't needed if it's a single file. The -r flag is for recursively removing given directory hierarchy.

 

[coconn06]

For the record, the -r flag isn't needed if it's a single file. The -r flag is for recursively removing given directory hierarchy.

That's why I said file OR directory. I included -r to cover both cases. Next time read what I wrote (you even quoted it!) before commenting.

 

[yellow]

That's why I said file OR directory. I included -r to cover both cases. Next time read what I wrote (you even quoted it!) before commenting.

Yep, see that now. Decaf. Seriously. Try it.

 

[t300]

Most of the time you can just restart and then it will let you delete it.

 

[FunkyPurple]

I tried the 'hold down option' suggestion first and it worked like a charm. Thanks Yellow for that one and thanks to everyone else for your suggestions. I love this site!

 

[Espnetboy3]

there is also a program called delete it on versiontracker that has worked flawlessly for me a few times. But option delete is easier.