Emptying the trash - force empty .

How do I empty the trash when it keeps saying that ...' item is locked '? . How do I force empty it ?
Thanks .

Many times, depressing the Option key while emptying Trash will empty problem files. Another method – start by depressing the mouse over the Trash icon. Then empty trash from the pop-up menu. The files should be emptied.
Also look at these links.
You can't empty the Trash or move a file to the Trash in Mac OS X
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106272
Solving Trash Problems
http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/trash.html
How To Fix Stubborn Trash and Why it Won't Delete
http://www.osxfaq.com/Tutorials/LearningCenter/HowTo/Trash/index.ws
Download Trash It! v3.6.1 from:
http://www.nonamescriptware.com/?page_id=5
Download DropNuke from:
http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/12664
 Cheers, Tom

Similar Messages

How can I delete all the Time Machine backups to make room for more? And how do I force the trash to empty?

I moved a bunch of my husband's files from his Macbook (which is dieing) to my iMac. I created a user for him on my iMac so he'd be able to keep his stuff separate from mine. All is working great except my Time Machine is now unable to backup. The total of used space on my hard drive (including the recently added user's files) is about 420 GB. The amount of capacity of my external hard drive is 999GB. I think Time Machine failed because there was all of a sudden so much more data and a new full backup would be more than the unused capacity of the HD? Regardless I don't need any old backups. I have all my files and all his files. So I moved all the backups from the external HD to the trash. Apparently that's a no no. I can't fully empty the trash now and that is making my iMac crazy slow.
1) Can anyone tell me how to force the trash to empty?
2) Is there a way to delete the whole external HD and start over with a new full backup via Time Machine? In Disk Utility I try to erase the partition and get an error "Volume Erase failed with the error: Couldn't unmount disk." Then I try to Unmount it and get another "Unmount failed. The disk Backup iOmega could not be unmounted. Make sure that all applications and files are closed on this disk." I turned off Time Machine and tried again but with the same errors.
The external HD is called iOmega. It only connects to the iMac with USB. Any help is much appreciated!!!!

Try this instead:
Drive Partition and Format
1. Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder.
2. Select the backup volume from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
3. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.)
4. Click on the Erase button.
You will need to reconfigure Time Machine preferences for the backup.
FYI: Never remove Time Machine backup data except through the Time Machine application. If you aren't sure about using Time Machine then visit Pondini's Time Machine FAQ for help with all things related to Time Machine.

How do i force empty the trash with old backups in it?

I am clearing out some old backups created by the TimeMachine and am unable to empty them from the Trash or return them. How can I force the Trash to empty?

Trying to remove some of your Time Machine back ups through trash is not a good idea without doing the necessary research first. Read about ways to solve Trash problems.
From the X LAB.       Solving Trash Problems
You can't empty the Trash or move a file to the Trash
Then, for clearing stubborn trash.                Download Trash It! for Mac
In particular related to Time Machine.
Time Machine - Troubleshooting E6.
Can't empty the trash after deleting backups via the Finder
Unless you are in the CIA or MI5 you need not use Secure Empty Trash.   It takes seven times longer and the Empty Trash is perfectly safe in most circumstances.

How do I force the trash to empty?

How do I force the trash to empty?

Hold down the option key while emptying trash.
More reading on this subject, The X LAB
http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/trash.html#Anchor-Force-11481

Error message: File can't be opened right now because it's being used by another task, such as moving or copying an item or emptying the Trash. Try again when the current task is complete.

I recently transferred some data from my external hard drive to my desktop, but there was an error transferring some of the files and it couldn't respond, and eventually i simply removed the external hard drive. However, the folder/files are still on my desktop, and when i try to move them or delete them, this error message appears:
“-folder/file name-” can’t be opened right now because it’s being used by another task, such as moving or copying an item or emptying the Trash. Try again when the current task is complete.
Since I removed the external hard drive before the files were finished transferring, there is no way for the current task to be completed. How can I resolve this and delete the folders/files from my desktop?

I just managed to resolve this by going to the apple sign in the top left, choosing force quit (or you could do option+command+esc), then i chose finder, and i clicked relaunch. After relaunching finder, the error message doesn't appear anymore, and I could move these files/folders, and delete them just fine.
Hope this will help other people who encounter similar problems in the future!

HT1526 I can't empty the trash and it says error code -8003. What can I do to fix this? I need to empty as my hardrive is nearly full.

Hey,
I keep trying to empty the trash on my macbook pro as it says i have just under 2gb of harddrive space left. I can't update my software as i don't have enough harddrive space left.
Every time i try and empty the trash it says that it can't empty the trash and gives an error code -8003.
Any ideas how i can fix this?
Many Thanks,
Charlie

Can't empty trash:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1526?viewlocale=en_US
How to Force Empty the Trash:
http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/trash.html#Anchor-Force-11481

Mail won't empty the Trash

OK, this isn't the end of the world or anything but it is annoying.
I upgraded to Snow Leopard and I have my mail account set to empty the trash when I quit mail. So, like a dummy, I expect that when I open mail, the trash will be empty - wrong. Since the upgrade, this hasn't worked (it worked fine before). Now I'm having to go in and tell the trash can to empty itself.
Anyone else having this problem?

Yes that does seem to fix the problem, but it also destroys all mailbox info. I have 8 mailboxes. Setting them all up again is way too much work. I will continue to force empty the trash until Apple fixes this problem, or a simpler solution is found. I restored my com.apple.mail.plist using Time Machine, so I'm back to where I was.

Problem emptying the trash

Hi
I have a problem when emptying the Trash on OS X Lion
It just says "emptying however many items" and it just stays like that for ages, i've left for hours and still nothing, which forces me to have to reset finder
I've tried holding option to empty the trash but still the same thing happens
Any suggestions?

Select  ▹ Force Quit... from the menu bar, then select Finder and press return. From the Finder menu bar, select Finder ▹ Preferences ▹ Advanced and uncheck the box labeled Empty Trash securely. Try again to empty the Trash.

I can't empty the trash, I get this error code (-8003)

How can I force empty the trash, or get around this problem?

Can anyone tell me why I keep getting error -8003 or -36 when I try to copy my Time Machine backups to another drive? Since I was running out of room on my Time Machine drive, I was in the process of deleting all copies of my old Outlook 2011 Identity (using Time Machine, not the Finder), when the process abruptly stopped and the drive was no longer accessible. The only way I can mount the drive is to power it up after booting my system - (I've tried this on two different systems) - then using Disk Utility to attempt a repair on the drive. Disk Utility can't repair the drive and says I need to backup my data, then reformat the drive, which is why I'm trying to copy my backups to another drive. For reference, my Time Machine backups are on one partition of a two partition drive, and the other partition mounts just fine.

I am unable to empty the Trash

It says there are locked items and do I want to secure delete unlocked items or all items. I doesn't seem to matter which I check. I can see the delete count decrease and then the box disappears without finishing the delete process.
Any hints?

Can't empty trash:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1526?viewlocale=en_US
How to Force Empty the Trash:
http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/trash.html#Anchor-Force-11481

Error reported every time I try to empty the trash can

Does anyone know what to do to deal with the following error message.
"Sorry, the operation could not be completed because and unexpected error occurred (Error code -8062)
<stop> <continue>
My only way around this are to use the terminal program (each time), or a 3rd party utility like FileExaminer which will force the trash to empty. A major waste of time in every case.
Hope someone knows how to deal with this.
Paul

Does anyone know what to do to deal with the following error message.
"Sorry, the operation could not be completed because and unexpected error occurred (Error code -8062)
<stop> <continue>
My only way around this are to use the terminal program (each time), or a 3rd party utility like FileExaminer which will force the trash to empty. A major waste of time in every case.
Hope someone knows how to deal with this.
Paul

I get the beach ball of death when I empty the trash on my new 10.7 Mac. Even in safe mode

When I attempt to empty the trash I get the progress bar with message on how many items to empty and I get the barber pole lines but it never really starts to empty. I just have the beach ball of death. Everything else on the MacBook Pro comes to a halt (if you wait about 5 minutes an app selected to quit might quit). You can click on the X to stop emptying trash and it says it's stopping but it keeps showing the marching progress bar and the beach ball keeps spinning.
Running 10.7. 8 gigs ram 2.0 ghz i7. 15".
The only way to shut down is force quit holding down the power key. Tried it in Safe Mode with same results.

I had the same problem.
Your advice solved my problem.
Thank you for the original post. And the two updates.
I nominate you for "15 Points." 5 for your helpful answer. And another 10 because it was correct.
Apple's Support Community needs more people like you.
If I had posted a question and no one answered, I'd say, "the **** with it."
Instead, you came back - not once but twice - to provide updates.
Again, thank you.

Why does the computer lock up while I am securely emptying the trash?

Why does the computer lock up while I am securely emptying the trash?

Select  ▹ Force Quit... from the menu bar, then select Finder and press return. From the Finder menu bar, select Finder ▹ Preferences ▹ Advanced and uncheck the box labeled Empty Trash securely. Try again to empty the Trash. If you still have problems, follow the instructions in this support article:
You can't empty the Trash or move a file to the Trash

EMPTYING THE TRASH IS SLOWLY

ITEMS TO DELETE 121200 IS TAKE 5 HOUR OR MORE TO DELET?

Select  ▹ Force Quit from the menu bar, then select Finder and press return. From the Finder menu bar, select Finder ▹ Preferences ▹ Advanced and uncheck the box labeled Empty Trash securely. Try again to empty the Trash.

Emptying the Trash... hangs

I've tried rebooting my MacBook Pro... tried secure empty trash, tried Option+Empty Trash... only way to reboot is to first Force Quit the Finder... what ever I do, I can't put anything in the Trash and empty it.
Anyone have an idea how I can fix this?
Thanks heaps.

Hey red-handler,
That sounds frustrating! After some research, I found the following resource which may point to a resolution:
You can't empty the Trash or move a file to the Trash
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1526
Thanks,
Matt M.

Emptying the trash - force empty .

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