How do I delete individual files in Trash

I have a habit of moving a lot of stuff to my trash bin. Now after a couple of years I want to recover a lot of the space it's using on my hard drive. So my question, how do I delete individual files in my trash bin without emptying all the contents in my trash bin? Is this at all possible?

Move the files you wish to keep out of the trash, delete the rest.

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Deleting individual Files from trash folder

This should be a simple question...Is there a way to permanently delete individual files/folders from the trash folder instead of emptying the entire trash folder? TIA, Scott

As Allan says, no... the trash *should not* be used as a repository for files you're not sure you want to trash yet. Not only is this extremely hazardous, as it's easy to accidentally empty the trash, but it also puts all those questionable files outside the reach of Time Machine, so they will not be backed up. If you need a "Pending Trash" folder, create one on your desktop, and then put files in the trash only once you are truly ready to delete them.

I have sent a file to the trash bin. When I come to empty the trash bin everything goes out except this one particular file and I get a note saying the file is 'in use' but it is not. How can I delete this file from trash?

I have a Macbook Pro with OS X Lion 10.7.2. I have sent a work file to the trash bin along with many other files. When I empty the trash this one particular file remains and I get a message that this file is still in use. I have tried returning the file to my documents, opening it, closing it and then sending it to trash and again I try to empty trash but the same message comes up - Q - How can I trash this file permanently?

First just try logging out and back in. Whatever is holding on to it may not be running after the logout thus freeing it so you can trash it after logging back in.
You might also try Trash It!
Lastly, look at the following for suggestions:
The X Lab: Solving Trash Problems

How do I remove a file to trash from my desktop? when I drag to trash it says I cannot delete

I'm a seasoned iMac user but forgot from the "old days" how to delete a file to trash from the desktop when it says "The item ......can't be moved to the Trash because it can't be deleted". This is a file I downloaded a few days ago. Can you help, please?

Thank you for answering- I must have posted the question twice. Another helpful person helped me solve it. I have to shake my head at my dumb self.....all I needed to do was restart the machine and the file disappeared. A total "duh" moment for this "seasoned" Mac user. Again, thanks for answering.

I have dragged 2 files to the trash bin but I cannot delete them from the trash bin. It keeps telling me these files are in use when they are not. How do I delete these files? One is a txt file and the other is an xls file

I have dragged 2 files to the trash bin but I cannot delete them from the trash bin. It keeps telling me these files are in use when they are not. How do I delete these files? One is a txt file and the other is an xls file

From the Finder menu select 'Secure Empty Trash'. If this or the suggestion above doesn't resolve the problem take a look at the various suggestions in this link:
http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/trash.html

How can I delete PDF files from my iMac desktop?

How can I delete PDF files from my iMac desktop?

Not on my system,When I try to dump if off in the trash it will not go. I get a message that says this file cannot be removed. I also tried going to File and clicking on Move to Trash. No dice.

How can I delete a file? At the moment I delete each pic and it takes ages! I tried select all and managed to delete all my 2300 photos!! I've got them back but I've also got back 980 which I had already deleted 1 by 1 over the past 6 months! Help!

Please help! How can I delete a file without deleting all my photos? I have just managed to delete all my more than 2000 photographs by choosing' Select all' and then delete. But I thought only 'all' the photographs in the file I had open would be selected! I have got them back, but I've also got back more than 800 others that I'd deleted SINGLY over the last 6 months! HELP!

Put a Photo in the iPhoto Trash.
iPhoto Menu -> Empty Trash
This removes the photo from iPhoto and the Hard Disk (in every version of iPhoto except iPhoto11)
In iPhoto 11 the file goes to the System Trash, you need to empty that too.
Regards
TD

How do I delete large files

How do I delete large files, so they don't take 12 to 16 hours to delete?

Don't use the Secure Empty Trash option on items which don't contain sensitive data. If the Trash is always doing it, create two folders with the same name in different locations, drag the files into one, and move the other into the folder which contains the first.
(51817)

How do you delete .pdf files?

How do you delete pdf files from android Adobe Reader? I can delete the files, how do I
delete the file name from the Adobe Reader file list, especially duplicate file names.
someone please help me. this will have to be done from within the Reader, I think. ?

The full instructions are here: http://learn.adobe.com/wiki/display/readermobile/Android+FAQ.
Ben

How do I delete a file from Reader?

How do I delete a file from Adobe Reader?

Files are not kept "in" Adobe Reader, but on your local disk, or at Acrobat.com
Do you want to delete entries from the "recent" file list?

How do I delete a file from the Adobe Reader for iOS?

How do I delete a file from the Adobe Reader for iOS?

Read this:
http://forums.adobe.com/thread/1012973?tstart=0

How can I delete a file from Adobe Acrobat Reader DC?

How can I delete a file from Adobe Acrobat Reader DC?

What operating system do you use? Where do you store the files?

How do i delete Older files from the directory before create a new file?

Hi,
How do i delete older files in a particular directory,
the senorio is count the number of .txt files in a directory and delete the older files if file count is more than 10. (if i add 11th file the very first file has to be deleted)
i have written the code to count the files and delete , but it is deleting all the files instead of older file
public class ExtensionFilter implements FilenameFilter {
private String extension;
public ExtensionFilter( String extension ) {
    this.extension = extension;
public boolean accept(File dir, String name) {
    return (name.endsWith(extension));
public class FileUtils{
public static void main(String args[]) throws Exception {
    FileUtils.deleteFiles("c:/countfile/", ".txt");
public static void deleteFiles( String directory, String extension ) {
    ExtensionFilter filter = new ExtensionFilter(extension);
    File dir = new File(directory);
    String[] list = dir.list(filter);
    File file;
    if (list.length == 0) return;
    for (int i = 0; i < list.length; i++) {
      //file = new File(directory + list);
file = new File(directory, list[i]);
if ((list[i]).length()>=10)
     System.out.print(file + " deleted : " + file.delete());
Thanks,
Jamin Rosina

What your code is doing now, is deleting all filenames that are longer than 10 characters.
Your problem lies in the line:
if ((list).length()>=10)

How do you delete a file from an iPad?

How do you delete a file from an iPad?
There are 2 versions of a document file on my iPad.
I want to get rid of the obsolete one.
The iPad Users Guide does not describe how to delete a document file.
This is very frustrating!

The iPad Guide is for the iPad itself, not other apps you may install.
If you use Pages then read the online help here: http://help.apple.com/pages/ipad/2.2/ - specifically this: http://help.apple.com/pages/ipad/2.2/#/tancfc4d5c02
Delete a document from your iOS device
In the document manager, tap Edit.
When the documents begin to jiggle, tap the ones you want to delete.
Tap , then tap Delete Documents.To cancel, tap anywhere in the document manager background, or tap Done.

How can I delete the files .DS_store in Mac OS Yosemite?

How can I delete the files .DS_store in Mac OS Yosemite?

The .DS_Store file is normal. It holds certain settings related to the folder it is found in. Removing these files is futile, as they will come back, as you have observed.
If you are seeing them on your Mac, that means you have changed settings so that your Mac is showing invisible files in the Finder. To reverse that, run the following command in the Terminal:
defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles NO
This will hide them, and any other invisible files, from view.
If you are seeing them on a Windows machine, just ignore them. They're not doing any harm.
If you found a Terminal command that is supposed to stop them from being created, I would be extremely skeptical as to the wisdom of running it.

How do I delete individual files in Trash

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