Keyboard shortcut for delete doesn't work

[Pbryanw]

Hi, I'm a Mac Newbie having recently purchased a Mac Mini. So far I'm loving it - it's such a simple, easy to use OS.

Anyway the problem I'm having is that when I try to delete an item using the keyboard shortcut "command+delete" nothing happens. the same if I try to empty the trashcan using "command+shift+delete".

I'm using an Apple keyboard, so what am I doing wrong 😕

Thanks for answering my question. I'm sure it will be the first of many as I explore this new Operating System.

Paul

 

[grapes911]

Are you using the correct delete? There are two of them. Its the one called 'backspace' on windows keyboards. Its right under F11 and F12.

 

[superbovine]

well the command to empty trashcan is shift-command-delete. not sure what is going on with the one though.

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=75459

 

[grapes911]

well the command to empty trashcan is shift-command-delete. not sure what is going on with the one though.

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=75459

The order of shift and command shouldn't matter. Delete does have to be last though.

 

[Pbryanw]

Are you using the correct delete? There are two of them. Its the one called 'backspace' on windows keyboards. Its right under F11 and F12.

Thanks, that worked 🙂 I guess I'm showing my Windows background. Kept on pressing command and the "other delete" and nothing happened. Thanks for taking the time to answer a Mac newbie.

 

[grapes911]

Thanks, that worked 🙂 I guess I'm showing my Windows background. Kept on pressing command and the "other delete" and nothing happened. Thanks for taking the time to answer a Mac newbie.

Glad I could help. I wonder what that "other delete" key is called anyway?

 

[7on]

Forward Delete

 

[mhartl]

Solution on OS X Mavericks

This is an old thread, but it still appears near the top of relevant searches for the problem, so I'm posting my result here.

tl;dr: If ⌘-delete doesn't work, try ⌘-⌥-delete (command-option-delete) instead.

I had this problem on a new iMac with a standard Apple keyboard running the latest version of OS X (Mavericks 10.9.3 as of this writing). This was driving me crazy because I use ⌘-delete frequently, and I often switch between the iMac and my MacBook Air (running the same version of OS X) on which ⌘-delete works fine. I just discovered by chance and desperation that, for some reason, ⌘-⌥-delete (command-option-delete) does work. It's not as good as having the same keystrokes work on both machines, but at least now there's some keyboard shortcut I can use on the iMac.