Use Spotlight to search Terminal, or go to Utilities > Terminal, open and enter it. When you can't empty Trash in the normal way, you can enter Terminal to use the command line to force empty Trash. Mac Terminal is a command-line system that can help you quickly take control of your operating system and make changes. Your Mac will start to reboot.Īfter restarting the Mac, try to empty the Trash again. Restart Mac can help to solve the problem quickly.Ĭlick the Apple icon on the menu bar, then click the Restart option. Restart the MacĪs mentioned above, if your Mac has encountered a glitch somewhere, some operations can't be executed properly. This shortcut will completely delete the selected file directly from the Mac without putting the file in the Trash. Select all the files you plan to delete, press Command + Option + Delete to delete them all. Open the Trash, and pull all files to the Mac desktop. This method only needs two steps, it's very simple and works most of the time. Basic Try - Delete Files Directly from Mac If this happens, don't worry, try another method. Of course, it's also possible that you won't be able to successfully empty the Trash on the first try. You can choose the appropriate method according to your familiarity with the Mac.

In this section, we introduce alternatives ranging from simple to more complex. In the next part, we will introduce several alternative ways for you to empty Trash.įixes Are Here! Try Empty Mac Trash Alternatives

Luckily, there is not only one way to empty the Trash. One of the most likely reasons is that your Mac has encountered a glitch somewhere, so emptying the Trash doesn't work properly. For the most part, you did nothing wrong.

In fact, the cause of the problem is very complex. Am I Doing Something Wrong? Why Mac Trash Won't Empty What is the exact reason for this issue and how to fix it? Keep reading, you will get the answer. However, due to system or hardware errors, sometimes you can't empty the Trash on Mac. Anyone who have the access to your Mac can review and restore the file that you are plan to delete.Ĭonsidering saving space on your Mac computer and protecting your personal privacy, it is a good and necessary habit to regularly empty the Trash. And on the other side, files put in Trash can be restored easily. In other words, the files in Trash are still saved on your Mac and take the storage space. Full stepsĪnything deleted on your Mac will first be moved to the Trash, at which point the files are not actually deleted until you empty the Trash. If you see a pop-up message informing you that the system can't empty the Trash.

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