HT1526 trash won't empty no matter what I tried

I had this problem before and I had fixed it after spending at least 3 or 4 hours online reading information from others, now after installing this new osx whatever, it brought back the bad trash again, which won't empty.. it says you cant open the trash now because it is being used for another task.. it shows that there are 3 documents it is trying to empty but it is doing nothing.. and there are no 'x' button so I can't kill it.. can someone give me a tip. I have already installed the 'trash it application but it is not working now since the trash is occupied. HELP apple!

So, you've tried doing a secure empty trash, and you've tried holding the option key down when choosing to empty the trash, or holding the shift and option keys when choosing to empty the trash? If you've tried those and they haven't worked, see this Apple note and read the last section on deleting locked files. OnyX also has a force trash empty function.

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My trash won't empty since I upgraded to Lion. Other than using rm -rf ~/.Trash/* in the terminal what can I do. Reparing permissions didn't hpl. regards robin

My trash won't empty since I upgraded to Lion.
Other than using rm -rf ~/.Trash/* in the terminal what can I do. Reparing permissions didn't hpl.
regards
robin

I have the same problem. I can put things into the trash, but when i empty the trash it makes the crumple noise like its throwing it away and the files stay in the trash and the icon stays full. I have 10.7.2. I also have Parallels installed on my machine.
Before this problem, I was unable to add files to my trash can and then I removed this program called CleanMyMac, which I guess wasn't compatible with Lion, and now I can at least add items to the trash can. It seems I am having a lingering issue due to that program.
I have a case with Apple Senior Support Analysts and they can't figure it out...
Please help!! I do not want to format and start all over just to empty my trash can
I also do not want to install Trash It (which would empty the trash i've heard) but will not resolve my issue only cover it up.
Thanks!!

Super stubborn files in Trash - won't empty!

Hi all,
a few days ago i deleted 2 files from my windows partition by dragging them strait to the trash in osx.
Since than, the trash won't empty!
I found quite a few ultimate trash guides, and I've tried EVERYTHING -
1. secure empty trash says "The finder can't complete the oparation because some data in "" can't be read or written (error code -36)".
2. forcing empty by holding the option button - nothing.
3. using the commands in the terminal (sudo, rm...) - nothing.
4. the files don't appear in the terminal when i use the ls command (enabeling viewing of hidden files)
5. repairing hd permissions - fixes quite a few errors but trash still wont empty.
6. checking the disk through windows 7 via bootcamp - nothing (files dont exist)
7. 3rd party apps - nothing (i tried about 5 different programs).
8. i even tried restoring my system via time machine - files are still there!!
Please help, what else must i do???
Thanks,
Daniel.

*Trash Problems*
If trash can't delete because an item is busy, try restarting the computer.
If trash won't delete because an item is locked, try holding down the option key when emptying the trash.
Try booting to Safe Mode (hold down the shift key while booting, restart may take a long time but let it go), sometimes just doing that works. Restart normally.
Reading
[You can't empty the Trash or move a file to the Trash in Mac OS X|http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1526]
[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]
[rccharles: Discussion on trashing problem files with Terminal commands|http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=9168842#9168842]
[Mini-tutorial: Force-deleting stubborn or problematic files in Mac OS X...|http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-10328342-263.html]
[Trash immediately emptying and permanently deleting file when you drag a file to it|http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=11390063]
*Utilities for emptying trash*
[Trash It!|http://www.nonamescriptware.com/?page_id=5]
[DropNuke|http://divnull.com/blog/products/software>
[Super Empty Trash 2.3|http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/16727] - Simple AppleScript applet that will empty the Trash with administrator privileges
[What's Keeping Me|http://www.hamsoftengineering.com/products/wkm/wkm.html] - lists files open and applications that are using them

Updated to OS X Y 10.10.3, now my trash won't empty, keeps getting stuck, any ideas?

Updated to OS X Y 10.10.3, now my trash won't empty, it keeps getting stuck, any ideas? Please!

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1526 You can't empty the Trash or move a file to the Trash
What to do when the Trash won’t empty

I deleted my back up files from my external hard drive and my trash won't empty. I get an error code -22. Can anyone tell me how to fix this?

I deleted my back up files from my external hard drive and my trash won't empty. I get an error code -22. Can anyone tell me how to fix this?

JLCruz wrote:
I deleted my back up files from my external hard drive ...
If this is related to Time Machine Backups...
See here > Should I delete old backups? If so, How?
From Here > http://pondini.org/TM/FAQ.html
If the TRASH still won’t Empty...
See Here > http://pondini.org/TM/E6.html

IPhoto Trash won't empty

I just realized my iPhoto Trash won't empty. When I click on it the software crashes. There are about 800 images in the Trash. I tried restoring about half of them to their albums and then emptying Trash -- but same thing -- Crash. Any suggestions? Thanks, Dan
G4 Mac OS X (10.3.9)

In iPhoto Preferences turn off "Show Item Counts." Quit iPhoto. Launch iPhoto. Empty Trash. Quit again. Launch again and see if the Trash emptied properly.

I deleted my Time Machine backups using Finder, now the trash won't empty

Hello
I've just been to the Apple genius bar and thought this was solved, there the trash emptied no problem. But I realized that the problem has to do with two external drives that have time machine backups on them. I deleted some of the older back ups because my drive was filling up and I didn't see any other way to delete them.
Now they can't be reinstated back where they were, and the trash won't empty using any method. I've even tried the Terminal SUMO methods on here and other sites, and the Trashi It app, and Cocktail app - nothing works.
The only solutions I've found say to wipe your back up drive completely and start over but that is NOT an option as I have ALL of my photos on there. I use my external drive for my images (I am a photographer) and use time machine to back up my MacBookPro onto there as well. I had no idea deleting those was going to be an issue. Now I've tried to delete other things on both external drives and they are all stuck in the trash.
Someone please help!

photogirl67 wrote:
I use my external drive for my images (I am a photographer) and use time machine to back up my MacBookPro onto there as well.
Not a good idea, as you've learned the hard way.
And especially bad in the same partition, as you can't just erase the TM partition.
Plus, how do you back up the images?
For best results, consider getting another external HD; one for the images, and one for TM. Then you can have Time Machine back up both your Mac and the external. See Time Machine - Frequently Asked Question #32 for details and considerations.
But my question for Pondini is this - if I use that command will it erase that entire drive, or just the trash on it?
Just the trash folders. I've reworded those instructions a bit, hopefully more clearly and safely, and put them in #E6 of Time Machine - Troubleshooting.

Cannot empty trash on my eMac no matter what I do.

It has 2 folders in it - an iMovie cache and media folder in it. I tried holding down the option key when emptying. I always "secure empty" all trash files. Please help because the trash is taking up a lot of HD space. The progress bar window pops up but sometimes there is no "blue" progress indicator and sometimes there is no blue indicator at all. I have allowed it to run for over an hour. There is approximately 787 MB in the media folder and only 112 kb in the cache folder.

If you have the problem where you can’t empty the Trash or eject a disk because something is preventing you? Usually the reason is because some application has a file open, and thus you can’t get rid of the disk or trash the file. Then use What’s Keeping Me! What’s Keeping Me will identify the application that is preventing you from accomplishing your task. You can then use What's Keeping Me to quit, relaunch, or kill the problem application so you can get on with your business.
http://www.hamsoftengineering.com/products/wkm/wkm.html
Sometimes it happens that the Finder just doesn't want to empty the trash anymore and says "The operation cannot be completed because the item "" is in use.". That's a good warning if it is true, but sometimes you want to get rid of an application and this warning appears even though the only thing running is the Finder. Usually after a restart you can delete it. But that is very time consuming and even then, it is sometimes still stuck not wanting to be deleted. There is a risky command that can be used in the Terminal that will empty the trash no matter what. Risky because a simple error in the syntax could erase a lot of stuff that you want to keep.
There is a way of forcing the Finder to empty the trash no matter what! It is done in the freeware customization and maintenance application OnyX (download @ http://www.titanium.free.fr/pgs/english/apps.html ). Once you loaded OnyX and entered your administrator password, choose "Cleaning" in the top bar. Click on the "Trash" tab. You can now choose whether you want to "Delete" or to "Securely Delete" (by overwriting) and click Execute. That's it, it will force the Finder to empty the trash even if the files are in use!
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

My trash won't empty on my macbook pro, what do I do?

First off, my trash has been 'emptying' for over two days now and the status bar has not moved at all.
Secondly, when I try to stop emptying, it will just say emptying and not do anything.
Thirdly, my mac will not restart unless I exit out of the finder (trash) but because it will not stop emptying I cannot restart unless I hold down the power button.
How do I fix this and/or get the trash to empty?
I currently have 581 files waiting to be deleted, is it because I have so many items?

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

Very slow safari, slow system trash won't empty

Help
Trying to clean up my 09 MacBookPro. safari has been pretty slow and i keep getting what i like to call 'the wheel of death' on my desktop on opening safari or searching or opening some apps.
i Have purged my Mac to free up some RAM as it was running on next to nothing. Diskspace is pretty good as backed up all my Movies, homed vids and music to external hard drive.
I have stopped my dashboard temporarily to free up space from apps running in background
Having massive problems trying to delete trash. Only as of today. tryong to delete spotify spotify app, adobe installer and flip4mac (dont know what that is) tried to delete all at once and tried each one seperatly. Can not stop deleting trash as it take ages to stop. only way to close is force restart computer. Have done cmd + R to acces disk utility and everything is fine with no probs.
PLEASE HELP --- ITS DRIVING ME CRAZY!!!!
Update - not concerned about flip4mac apparently mean i can watch wmv files

PS I AM NOT DOING A SECURE EMPTY when deleting trash
these are the 5 items i am trying to delete
file://localhost/Users/NR/.Trash/wall%20art.jpg
file://localhost/Users/NR/.Trash/uninstall_flash_player_osx.dmg
file://localhost/Users/NR/.Trash/SpotifyInstaller.zip
file://localhost/Users/NR/.Trash/Spotify.app/

HT201272 I typed in a digital copy code to get Rise of the Guardians on here because I bought the blu-ray, but the digital copy won't download no matter what I do. Why won't it download? Right now I am very angry for not getting the digital copy.

I purchased Rise of the Guardians on blu-ray, I typd in the digital copy code that came in the case, the ituns extras downloaded, but no matter what I do, the digital copy of the actual movie won't download. Why won't it download? I've tried everything I could think of, but nothing works, it just simply does not want to download.

Ok, a new digital copy of Rise of the Guardians started downloading automatically at no extra cost, I admit that I was thrilled, but now my happiness is gone because the new digital copy of Rise of the Guardians simply won't play. Nothing works with it except for the iTunes extras again. I'm getting really tired of this. Why won't it play and why give a digital copy if it refuses to work? Please someone help me out here!

Trash won't empty after deleting inprogress Time Machine backup

I deleted an in-progress Time Machine backup. It is in my trash and every time I try to delete it, it prepares 270,000 files for deletion, then it just hangs and does nothing. I've tried ~ sudo rm -rf /.Trashes to no avail. I've also tried to put it back; however, there isn't an option aside from coping. I am at a loss. Aside from reformatting the drive 700GB, I'm not finding any other solution. I really don't want to reformat and rebuild the backup, that is a scary process and would like to avoid that if possible. Any idea's would be much appreciated. Thanks
-Justin

jthedwalker wrote:
I've tried ~ sudo rm -rf /.Trashes to no avail.
What does that mean? Nothing happened, or it took a long time and didn't seem to be doing anything?
Did you cd to your TM volume first?
I've also tried to put it back
No; Time Machine backups are full of hard links. Moving things out of the Backups.backupdb folder destroys them, and they can't be rebuilt.
The remaining backups may be corrupted. If you do manage to empty the trash, do a +*Repair Disk+* on them.
As Kappy says, if you can't get rm to work, your only option is to erase.
By the way, you shouldn't have to delete TM backups, but if you do, use Time Machine. See #12 in [Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions|http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/FAQ.html] (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum).

Start up disk is full -- trash won't empty

I have gotten an error message saying my startup disk is almost full. I have tried to drag things to the trash and then empty trash, but nothing happens, everything still remains in the trash. I cannot print, and I cannot use a word processing application, such as appleworks or microsoft office for mac programs. All of these things worked up until a week ago. I don't know what to do.
imac Mac OS X (10.4.10)

Hello jd:
The errors that cannot be fixed need to be addressed. You have a couple of options.
A more robust program for fixing directory problems is DiskWarrior. It is pricey at about $90, but it is the "gold standard" of directory repair.
You could also do an archive and install to install a pristine OS X, but that will take more time:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107120
The trash problem might be addressed by a program I use - Cocktail (you do need to free up space - about 10% free HD space is a rough rule of thumb):
http://www.maintain.se/cocktail/index.php
Barry

After recent update to Mountain Lion, trash won't empty completely; says "item" inuse

After recent update to Mountain Lion, trash will not empty completely. Always an item left in trash, and I get message that the "item is in use." Right now, using app Trash it! to get rid of that left behind item.

Try rebuilding Trash and see if that sorts it...
Launch Terminal and copy & paste these commands:
Go to /Applications /Utilities/Terminal and launch it.
At the prompt, copy and paste this command
sudo rm -rf ~/.Trash
Press Return.
You will be asked to enter your admin password. It will be invisible.
Enter it and press Return.
Log out and back in or restart.
Let us know.

New iPad 2 Won't Activate - No matter what

Hello everyone. I have a 64 GB iPad 2 wifi + 3G with iOS 6 purchased new from apple with apple care in July 2011. The screen became distorted so I took it into the apple store and was told that the video cable was loose and I had my device exchanged for a brand new iPad 2.
That evening, I could not activate the iPad no matter what I did. I reset it 3 times. Used my wifi network and then another wifi network. I tried to plug it into iTunes. I even tried twice to force a reinstall of firmware/iOS. All of this has resulted in the same problem. I get an error message saying that the iPad could not be activated.
I have called Verizon and had the old iPad deactivated and the MEID of the new device put onto the network. They were unable to figure out the activation issue and referred me to apple. I called apple care and they were unable to figure it out so I was referred back to the apple store. Yesterday I go to the apple store again and the genius, while very nice and sympathetic, could not figure it out. They did not have another iPad 2 in stock to exchange so I was told the issue would be escalated via an online process and now I'm sitting with a non-functioning iPad waiting for a phone call/e-mail.
I'm very frustrated as I don't have an iPad. I return to work Monday for which the iPad is an integral part of my practice. I have spent $50 in parking already trying to get this fixed at the apple store. Does anybody have any thoughts or faced a similar problem? Thanks in advance for your replies.

lauris47 wrote:
Have you solved it ? I have same problem, tried everything including restoring device to default. It was working with earlier software fine, and since I updated to 8.1.2 it stopped. Just says waiting for activation or unable to active.
I'll ask you the same question. Are you using a supported carrier?
Are they on this list? Wireless carrier support and features for iPhone - Apple Support

HT1526 trash won't empty no matter what I tried

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