Comments on: Force Empty Trash in Mac OS X When File is Locked or In Use

By: dan goode

dan goode — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 19:23:26 +0000

Thank you!! Thank you!! Thank you!! Muchly appreciated.

By: Mary Beth Libby

Mary Beth Libby — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 14:32:40 +0000

I have tried EVERY tip before and this is the only thing that would completely empty my trash. Thank you!!!

By: kpotter

kpotter — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 23:25:08 +0000

how do you changed permissions to forcibly empty trash?

By: Bern

Bern — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 03:16:13 +0000

Used it for a stubborn locked file and worked perfectly.

By: Vern

Vern — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 19:38:39 +0000

Good job Trevor, even the guys at the genius bar here in Naples didnt know that trick:-) worked perfectly!

By: Stewart

Stewart — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 15:45:40 +0000

Change Permissions To Forcibly Empty Trash

Thank you it worked for me.

By: Talkin' Trash

Talkin' Trash — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 02:48:47 +0000

If you don’t want to Terminal bash it, you can try right clicking on the file while it’s in the trash, then press cmd and choose Empty Trash. This works 7/10ish is the file is persistent with just a regular emptying.

Failing that, I use the app Find Any File. Copy the file’s name that needs deleting, and paste it into Find Any File. Once found, right click on the file and choose “Delete Immediately”. Works a charm.

By: alex

alex — Sat, 19 Jan 2013 21:02:41 +0000

Thanks, it worked out perfectly!

By: Traci

Traci — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 00:29:53 +0000

I have tried everything as well … And this was the ONE thing that completely erased my Trash Box! Thank YOU!

By: Susan

Susan — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 15:09:39 +0000

I tried every method I could find and couldn’t get rid of a locked file deleted from Time Machine. Then I ran routine cleaning with OnyX and it deleted it with no fanfare.

By: Tim

Tim — Mon, 24 Dec 2012 11:44:25 +0000

I have tried using the command suggested but my problem is that every time I start a secure empty trash it stops after a few seconds and doesn’t delete any files,

By: ian4c

ian4c — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 21:09:37 +0000

Good man! After trying Terminal and all the suggestions on another site trying to delete old Time machine Back Ups Command Option Shift and Delete the trash worked.

Thanks Anonymous

By: Suzie

Suzie — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 20:50:22 +0000

DUDE!! Thank you for posting this. Very clean way to tidy up the stuck on trash! You rock.

By: Tim R

Tim R — Sun, 18 Nov 2012 16:37:33 +0000

excellent thanks – so frustrating trying to get rid of stuff!

By: Jim

Jim — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 20:28:42 +0000

Numerous utilities will do this all for you with the click of a button. Onyx being one of them, MainMenu another.