Ok, So (correct me if I'm wrong) I believe that when you empty the trash it doesn't really delete the file, it creates back ups and the files are still on your hard drive, but you can't access them. What are these files, and where can you find them? Do they take up hard drive space? is there any way to delete them? In my opinion this kills the purpose of emptying the trash if you don't get the storage space back on you hard drive... I am concerned because I have a mac mini with only 80 gigs of storage... and I don't want it wasted because the empty trash button doesn't really get rid of the files. I believe you can delete files/folders w/ either rm or rm -r but It would be a pain to use terminal every time I need to delete something. I am open to any solutions, except sudo commands (don't ask). I am not a complete mac noob, but please keep things simplified.