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.

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  • 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.

  • 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.
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    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

  • 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.
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    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

  • Emptying the trash makes my computer freeze and shut down

    Hello. Everytime I try to empty the trash, my screen goes black and I get a message that I have to shut down. The computer totally freezes and the only thing I can do is shut down. I've tried deleting the trash using terminal and the same thing happens. Any suggestions as to how to resolve this?? thanks
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    HI dgx,
    Any and all "trash" issues, look here: http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/trash.html
    Carolyn

  • Help !!! I Can't Empty the Trash ...

    I still cannot empty the trash! Tons of error messages keep popping up:
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    -- whatsnew.htm is locked
    -- volume.gif is locked
    -- viewinginfo.htm is locked
    -- upgradingwmp.htm is locked
    -- understandingwm.htm is locked
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    I don't see any of these items in the trash?
    Help ... !!! Thanks.

    Do you have anything in the trash you can see? Sometimes if there is an application in the trash it can contain hundreds of files that you can't normally see and those may be presenting you with errors.
    *Trash Problems*
    Try booting to Safe Mode, sometimes just doing that works.
    Reading
    [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]
    *Utilities for emptying trash*
    [Trash It! v3.6.1|http://www.nonamescriptware.com/?page_id=5]
    [DropNuke|http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/12664]
    [Super Empty Trash 2.3|http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/16727] - Simple AppleScript applet that will empty the Trash with administrator privileges

  • Mail won't empty the Trash

    OK, this isn't the end of the world or anything but it is annoying.
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    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.

  • I'm getting an error code -8003 when I try to empty the trash.

    My computer has just been switched on after shutdown overnight so hasn't crashed, I'm wondering if there's any reason for this.

    See this general resume of trash problems.
    I suspect you've been trying to remove some of your Time Machine back ups.   Not a good idea without doing the necessary research first.  Read about ways to solve Trash problems.
    From the X LAB.       Solving Trash Problems     
    Then, for clearing stubborn trash.                Download Trash It! for Mac
    In particular related to Time Machine.       Time Machine - Troubleshooting
    http://pondini.org/TM/E6.html
    Can't empty the trash after deleting backups via the Finder

  • How do I disable the emptying the Trash warning with Mac OS X 10.5?

    Seems like when I was on Tiger I did something (maybe in terminal?) to get rid of the nag button when emptying the trash.

    Finder -> Preferences -> Advanced -> uncheck the box.

  • I have an imac..put a folder in the trash with a lock item,cant empty trash,how do i get it unlocked?

    I have an imac...put a folder in the trash and it has a locked program,now i can get it out of the trash to unlock it so i can empty the trash...any help appreciated.

    Try Trash It! 5.1. Also, visit The XLab FAQs and read the FAQ on resolving Trash problems. Often you can delete a locked file by holding down the OPTION key while you Empty the Trash.

  • 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.
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    Lastly, look at the following for suggestions:
    The X Lab: Solving Trash Problems

  • How do you move a file to the trash with ONE keystroke (Can't believe I'm wasting time on this!)

    Everytime I want to send a file to the trash, I have to either perform some kind of key combination/shortcut or use the trackpad/mouse, right click and select "move to trash", or drag the file(s) to the trash!  This is absolutely ridiculous.  Why can't I just press the delete button??? I cannot take it anymore!  It's such a waste of time.
    After some research, I finally found a post with the answer I was looking for from user  par larsson 
    Re: How delete a file in mac os x?
    "You can also go into System Preferences and make a new keyboard shortcut. I turned one of the function keys into a "Move To Trash" key.
    1. No need to use the mouse for something that should be simple and quick.
    2. Single button press just like in Windows."
    Seriously!
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    1. I went to the system prefs > Keyboard > Keyboard and checked "use F1, F2, etc... as standard function keys.."
    2. Under keyboard shortcuts, I selected "Application Shortcuts" and clicked on the "+" sign
    3. I selected the finder application, entered "Move To Trash" in the action box, and F12 as the key (because it's next to "delete")
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    4.  I went back to "keyboard shortcuts" and found F12 was already assigned to open the dashboard.  So I unchecked it and tried again.
    That still didn't work.  I would select the file to be moved to trash, press F12, and after an error "beep" sound, the last file in the folder was highlighted.

    Duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuude!!!!!!!!!!!!  YOU DID IT!  I cannot believe it!
    I changed "Move To Trash" to "Move to Trash" and selected a file.  I had lost all hope, so I took a minute to prepare myself for yet another moment of deep frustration.  Then I pressed F10, and bang! the file was trashed!!!  It took me a couple minutes to actually believe what just happened.  Thank you so much!  If I could, I would "like" you as many times as I can physically hit the "Liked" button!
    PS: what the heck is wrong with Apple though???  Wrong instructions, incorrect help instructions on their own site.  The chances of figuring this out before having a nervous breakdown were like one in a million (approximately, I did not actually do the math).  Last week, the keyboard and the trackpad stopped responding on my brand new macbook pro for a couple hours. I was not the only one with this problem.  Apparently, this was from a design flaw, which means it could happen again at any time.  iMovie doesn't work.  TextEdit keeps crashing all the time.  Emptying the trash can take hours. 
    Since 2000, I bought a PMac G4 Quicksilver, a used PMac G3 Blue, a used iBook G4, a used Pismo PBook G3, a used Graphite iMac G4, a used iMac G3 (green, 233MHz I think) and I already had more problems with this brand new macbook pro than will all the other macs combined...  For such an expensive machine, with 16GB of RAM, that's a little dissapointing, especially from Apple.  Maybe I'm just not lucky.
    Anyways, thanks again!  Best moment of 2014!

  • How do i delete completely all data that i already deleted? Because even though i deleted the files and empty the trash, my memory is still the same! please help!!

    Hi all! im using the OS XV10.6 not 4 sorry. Anywayz, i tried to delete all data that i dont need to have more free space. However, after i deleted all the files that i dont need, then empty the trash cane, my free space is still the same! I did research and try the "erase for free space" But it is still the same! please help!!! Is there anyway to increase my free space?

    Hello, are you using Filevault perchance?
    How much free space does it report if you do a Get Info on the whole drive?
    Could we be confusing Memory (RAM), with Hard Drive Free Space (Virtual Memory)?

  • How to empty the trash

    hi
    how to empty the trash, i have try many times but the files still there
    Thanx

    You can't empty the Trash or move a file to the Trash
    Solving Trash Problems
    How To Fix Stubborn Trash and Why it Won't Delete
    Restart with shift key, so you do a Safe Boot and try.
    Safe Boot, Safe Mode
    Boot in Safe Mode
    You don't need Onyx.

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