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the item (Item XYZ) can't be moved to the trash because it can't be deleted

S

Sprhmn Unknwn

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 27, 2010
27
0
So today I bought me a brand new iMac. I freaking love this thing, don't know why I didn't make the jump (back) sooner.

Anywho, I have two external hard drives in which I used to transfer data, including some pictures and audio from my Windows Vista computer to the new Mac. I go ahead and finish transferring over the files. When I go to delete the files off my external hard drive, I am met with a "the item (insert file name here) can't be moved to the trash because it can't be deleted". Now, I notice that this happens with ANY file or folder that I attempt to move to the trash can from either of my external hard drives. I can't seem to find a solutions anywhere either via a Google search or on this forum. Now I can't be the first person to have this issue, or am I?

Anywho, Thanks, and please don't be too hard on me. :).
 
Thank you for the link, but it doesn't appear that the files are even locked. Or am I missing something?
 
Sprhmn Unknwn said:
Thank you again for your help, but that still doesn't help because i need to move the files to the trash first, right?
Click to expand...

If you right-click and "Get Info" on the item, what are your permissions? (at the bottom, under Sharing & Permissions:
Picture 8.jpg​
 
I don't see a padlock...
 

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Come on guys...

The drive is clearly formatted NTFS. This makes the entire drive read-only in OS X, as OS X doesn't have built-in write support for NTFS partitions.
 
I'm having a similar problem to the OP's. The files appears to have been partially downloaded. I've followed the instructions on the Apple support site to get rid of files that are partially downloaded, but it hasn't worked. Also, when I try to view the file's properties by clicking "Get Info," nothing happens. Any ideas what I can do to get rid of this?
 
Kaper said:
I'm having a similar problem to the OP's. The files appears to have been partially downloaded. I've followed the instructions on the Apple support site to get rid of files that are partially downloaded, but it hasn't worked. Also, when I try to view the file's properties by clicking "Get Info," nothing happens. Any ideas what I can do to get rid of this?
Click to expand...


I just solved my own issue after reading this thread, and the solution hasn't been posted yet.

Check this:

Are you running DropBox? Is it a file that was previously listed in a DropBox folder that has since been moved back to the desktop?

I had a file that wouldn't let me view info or delete.

I logged in as ROOT (google for instructions on how to enable the Root user), and navigated to /Users/XYZ (your user account name)/Desktop, and deleted it. When I logged back into my daily user account, the file was gone.
 
Had same issue

I had a PDF on my Desktop throwing the same error. I used Force Quit to Relaunch Finder and the file disappeared.
 
Thank You!!!

salaham said:
I had a PDF on my Desktop throwing the same error. I used Force Quit to Relaunch Finder and the file disappeared.
Click to expand...

I just want to thank you for the simplest and quickest way to handle this annoying issue. The best response on here!!!!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!! :)
 
salaham said:
I had a PDF on my Desktop throwing the same error. I used Force Quit to Relaunch Finder and the file disappeared.
Click to expand...

Thank you so very much indeed.....THANK YOU !

I was tearing my hair out trying to delete this nuisance downloaded file which is of no use at all but kept getting that " cannot delete file because it cannot be deleted" crap. Tried all kind of ways suggested online but none did the trick, until I tried yours !

Just 2 simple steps and it is "adios, 'undeletable file' " !!!

Thanks, man ! :D
 
GGJstudios said:
Click the padlock (circled), enter your Admin password, and change your permissions to Read & Write
Click to expand...

Mine says “You can only read” (yet it says Read & Write under my privileges) Push the lock > put in my password > yet I cannot seem to change any of the permissions
 
Maybe a silly question...
Are you sure you are logged in under the Account that is showing that your User Name has r/w?
 
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