Home Forums Mac Software Mac Operating Systems Trash won't delete any items

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.