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Trash won't delete any items
#32352 12/30/14 09:44 PM
Joined: Aug 2009
JoBoy Offline OP
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Joined: Aug 2009
Yesterday, I put five items in the trash: A Google Earth application and its .dmg, a Word .doc document, a folder of Recovered files, and an Excel .xls document. The Google Earth dmg is the largest at 45mb.

When I click Empty Securely, I get a window containing this: "There are some locked items in the Trash. Do you want to remove all the items, including the locked ones, or just the unlocked items? There are some locked items in the Trash. Do you want to remove all the items, including the locked ones, or just the unlocked items?"

It doesn't matter which choice I click it always answers: "The operation can’t be completed because you don’t have permission to access some of the items."

I've never experienced this before. I'm the only user of my computer and I am the administrator. We've had a monster winter storm including 3 days of winds with gusts as high at 75 mph. We had one power outage for about 10 minutes, but I have an APC backup with a two hour capacity, so I'm not totally convinced that the weather has anything to do with this problem.

My setup is shown below.

Suggestions on how to fix this would be deeply appreciated. Happy Holidays!


Mac Pro dual Quad-Core Intel Xeons Early 2008; 16GB RAM; MacOS X 10.11.6, iOS 9.3.5
Re: Trash won't delete any items
JoBoy #32353 12/30/14 09:53 PM
Joined: Aug 2009
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Sorry for asking the obvious question, but have you tried Finder > Secure Empty Trash?


The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
Re: Trash won't delete any items
artie505 #32354 12/30/14 10:25 PM
Joined: Aug 2009
JoBoy Offline OP
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Joined: Aug 2009
Yes. It's the same both ways. Sorry for the omission. I'm hoping for something short of reinstalling the Yosemite OS. I learned from Apple that, on my Mac Pro, I can't do some things that newer Macs can do and I've also limited myself to not using the iCloud insofar as I am able to prevent it. When I refresh my equipment, I will go full tilt on the features of the new operating systems, but not now. I just hope this problem is not precipitated by my limitations. I would think that something that has functioned perfectly for me since installing Yosemite, would have shown my current problem with Secure Empty Trash immediately after installing.

Last edited by JoBoy; 12/30/14 10:35 PM.

Mac Pro dual Quad-Core Intel Xeons Early 2008; 16GB RAM; MacOS X 10.11.6, iOS 9.3.5
Re: Trash won't delete any items
JoBoy #32356 12/30/14 10:49 PM
Joined: Aug 2009
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I've seen your pop-up numerous times, but "Secure Empty" has always overcome it.

Have you tried Terminal?


The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
Re: Trash won't delete any items
JoBoy #32357 12/30/14 11:02 PM
Joined: Aug 2009
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Open the trash. Click on the item that won't go away. Go to File->Get Info. In the Info window, look at Sharing and Permissions. What does it say?

In the top of the Info window, in the General section, is there a checkmark on "Locked"?


Photo gallery, all about me, and more: www.xeromag.com/franklin.html
Re: Trash won't delete any items
tacit #32358 12/30/14 11:22 PM
Joined: Aug 2009
JoBoy Offline OP
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Joined: Aug 2009
I didn't try terminal and I can't answer Tacit's question because I just stumbled on a method that worked for me. It is:

How to force Trash to delete difficult files:

1. Press and hold the mouse button on the Trash icon in the Dock. The context menu for Trash will display.
2. Press and hold the Option key or the Shift-Option keyboard combination,
3. Select Empty Trash from the context menu for Trash.
4. Release the keys pressed and held in step 2.

I tried it and it worked! I don't usually look in multiple sources, but I only had a little time today and so I confess to shopping for an answer. FineTunedMac is my favorite place to discuss issues. I hope I can be forgiven for shopping around today.

Last edited by JoBoy; 12/31/14 12:26 AM.

Mac Pro dual Quad-Core Intel Xeons Early 2008; 16GB RAM; MacOS X 10.11.6, iOS 9.3.5
Re: Trash won't delete any items
JoBoy #32360 12/31/14 04:12 AM
Joined: Aug 2009
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This little gizmo has been around for years . . . and still works with YOSEMITE. It will toss even the most stubborn files. grin


http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/16727/super-empty-trash


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