Trash deleting on it's own

[shannonp]

Last night I was clearing out some space and couldn't delete some things, so after doing a google search, found this link: https://forums.macrumors.com/archive/index.php/t-74083.html to an old post here on macrumors.com, where it gave a solution using the terminal. So I did that, and it worked fine, problem solved. Or so I thought. Instead I now have a whole new problem, which is that my trash empties now as soon as I put something in it. Sometimes it just disappears, other times I get a warning that says "this item will be deleted forever". Any idea how I can stop this from happening in case I accidentally put something in there I don't want to delete?
thanks!

 

[Eidorian]

It sounds like you somehow deleted your trash folder. It happens to me for some bizarre reason as well.

In Terminal

mkdir ~/.Trash

 

[shannonp]

thank you so much, that worked like a charm! (had to restart finder, and then i was good to go!)
thanks again!!

 

[Eidorian]

I'd be wary of using "rm -r" unless you really know what you're going to delete.

 

[shannonp]

i definitely won't be doing it again. Instead I'll look for some sort of application to help with force deleting files if it becomes necessary.

 

[jeremy.king]

i definitely won't be doing it again. Instead I'll look for some sort of application to help with force deleting files if it becomes necessary.

With stubborn files, try holding down the option key while emptying the trash.

 

[Eidorian]

i definitely won't be doing it again. Instead I'll look for some sort of application to help with force deleting files if it becomes necessary.

If you actually go into the ~/.Trash folder and you can see what trash you can force delete.

cd ~/.Trash
rm -fi 'filename'

The 'i' signifies interactive. Tab completion. <3

     -i          Request confirmation before attempting to remove each file,
                 regardless of the file's permissions, or whether or not the
                 standard input device is a terminal.  The -i option overrides
                 any previous -f options.

With stubborn files, try holding down the option key while emptying the trash.

Secure Empty Trash is nice but it can take ages on large or many files.

 

[jeremy.king]

Secure Empty Trash is nice but it can take ages on large or many files.

Holding option != Secure empty

the option key is for deleting locked items.

 

[Blubbert]

If you actually go into the ~/.Trash folder and you can see what trash you can force delete.

cd ~/.Trash
rm -fi 'filename'

Whats the point of -fi? The -f flag deletes without asking for confirmation and -i asks for confirmation before every delete. It seems kinda redundant, especially considering that a -i flag after a -f flag as in this case, cancels out the -f flag.

 

[synth3tik]

A lot of times the trash can not empty because there is a process running something that you placed in the trash. Using Activity monitor you can kill this process with out messing Terminal. A lot safer way.