My Mac is stuck on preparing to empty the trash stopping

I downloaded some .wmv videos on my mac but I had trouble playing them so I moved them to trash and I put empty trash and it was just stuck like that so I stopped it and now its stuck on "stopping..." but still says "preparing to empty trash...".

If you can use Safari, go to the downloads window and delete all DLs.
If that doesn't work launch Activity Monitor in /Utilities folder.
Quit or force-quit Finder.
If you have no other options hold the power button until your Mac shuts down.

Similar Messages

Stack to "Preparing to empty the trash"

When i try to empty the trash, it stays to "Preparing yo empty the trash". Also, when i try to cancel the procedure, it stacks to "stopping..." Unacceptable for a Mac.
Any help please?

http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/trash.html

Mac OS X v10.7 Lion. Stuck in "Preparing to Empty Trash"

Hi Guys,
It the second time it happens to me in this new OS. When i try to empty the Trash it get stuck in Preparint to Empty Trash, I can see the finder counting how many items is going to clear out but nothing happens. I tried restarting and its exactly the same behaviour. When I try to cancel the or stop emptying the trash it also get stuck. Its says stoping clearing trash but hang there.
I left it over night so see if it was because of a large number of files etc, but to my surprise this morning i see it exactly in the same state.
Is there any way to fix it??
I tried with CleanMyMac app but it happens the same when trying to get the tras that needs to be cleaned it get stuck.
Anyone can share some insights?
Thanks!!!

hey my friend i figure out a way to fix it. do te following
If you have any external hardrive or usb drive or sd card remove it. If you have acces to a windows computer, plug your devices there and delete all the .something files that are created by mac os. Make sure to setup windows so you can see hidden and system files. Delete all thos .somethig files and olders.
Then plug in and reboot your mac and run the rm command now it will work

Since updating to Mac OS X 10.8.2 I can't empty the Trash

Since updating mt Macbook to Mac OS X 10.8.2 I can't empty the Trash. Can some one help please?

What type of error message are you getting?
There's a freeware app called TrashIt! that works very well for clearing files stuck in the Bin. It works with ML, too. Here's a link.

I tried emptying my "Trash" on my MacPro. It has stuck with a label saying "Emptying the Trash"

I tried emptying my "Trash" on my MacPro. It has stuck with a label saying "Emptying the Trash"at the top and aremark saying "Stopping" at the bottom.
<Re-Titled By Host>

Anything that promises to speed up your Mac, any with "clean" in the name
http://www.macupdate.com/find/mac/clean
I assume anyone knows what Piece.Of.S. is
http://www.bing.com/search?q=Mac+Recovery+Mode
http://www.bing.com/search?q=Mac+Safe+Mode
I had a dad that, ask a question, you got handed a dictionary or pointed to study room/office with those large heavy Britannica volumes and today it is all... at your finger tips.

Mac OS 10.5 / I deleted the " Private" folder ... and emptied the trash. So the folder and its contents no longer exists on my computer at all !!! I do have the OS dvd that i purchased years ago... But my computer will not start from it on its own. My

Mac OS 10.5 /
I deleted the " Private" folder ... and emptied the trash. So the folder and its contents no longer exists on my computer at all !!!
I do have the OS 10.5 dvd that i purchased years ago...
But my computer will not start from it on its own.
My question is what is the open source or terminal language code used to tell my mac to look in the DVD rom drive for startup info? I know that im not the only person in this world who has deleted the "PRIVATE" folder and emptied the trash so it no longer exists on their machine...
That said theres gotta be a common fix for a Power PC G4 that has the OS X dvd in the rom drive but wont look to it to reinstall the vital contents of the PRIVATE folder.
Once again there is not a copy of this file or its contents in the recycle bin...
Also rebooting the machine , pressing and holding the letter C does not prompt the machine to look to the dvd rom drive.
I was reinstalling pro tools and figured I would make some room by cleaning my computers HD...
Lol It was a bad choice to delete this file ...
Thanks guys

Okay sorry it took forever to respond... But for a while there I gave up on this computer!!!!
Money's been tight lately , so taking it in to a professional was not yet an option... though I did consider it eventhough.
Anyway long story short im glad I didnt spend any money because I already had all the tools necessary to fix this issue but was going about it in the wrong way. Okay so here is my scenario and the breakdown... Though this may not fix the issue for everyone :( which *****... But I know we all will have different circumstances.
Anyway here we go...
Okay so first things first.... Years ago I purchased the OS 10.5.1 disk ... So that has always been in my possession!!!!
I realize that some may not have a disk to reflash your OS to your hard drive... but if you do your in luck.
2ndly ... I had an external harddrive with all of my itunes downloaded music so it was more than okay with me to delete my primary HD because all the important stuff could either be copied over or repathed to be located.
-------If you dont want to read through the whole story the fix is summed up in the bottom section-------
Okay so now the SOLUTION!!!!
By trial and error , and pure boredom I opened up my computer to clean the inside...
AND
"Disconnected the primary HD"
and just because ....... REBOOTED my computer. Just to see what it would do.
Upon restart and though it looked like it would repeat its usual cycle...
About 1 minute in to that process my computer froze for about 2 seconds and flashed to the OS installation screen.
Mind you I havent seen this screen yet... Probably hasnt been since I installed the OS years ago.
After a bit of trial and error...
I decided to tell my computer to startup from the OS 10.5 disk located in my dvd rom drive and restarted once again...
this setting is under
Utilities / startup disk
After a little more trial and error ... I realized that I could reconnect the primary HD , restart the machine and return to the OS installation menu.
So upon this discovery
I went to the Disk Utility located under Utilities
Highlighted my primary HD located in the left hand column
Once highlighted ...
In the heading section on the right I selected the option
Erase
in which I erased My current OS on my primary HD ...
I used the first option in the list under security... Because it seemed like the least invasive and would take the least amount of time to see if this process would actually work.
I FORGOT to add something...
Another reason why I deleted my primary HD!!!!!
I forgot to say that it WOULD NOT!!!!! Show up in the STARTUP list as an option...Even After multiple reboots....
But like clockwork... Once I deleted its name IT SHOWED UP as an option!!!!
So back to the next step...
I returned to the STARTUP option under utilities ... And was then able to see MY primary HD now as a startup option...
But ofcourse it had no name because it we previously erased it.
So when Clicking my newly erased HD ... I was almost immediately prompted to REINSTALL the OS ...
Which said it would take about 57 minutes ... But I believe was alot less...
My issue was resolved ... My computer then stated the install was SUCCESSFUL!!!!!!! :))))))))))) lol ;)
It was like I was setting up for the first time ;) asking for my registration info...
The dilemma of deleting the private folder and emptying the trash is finally over resolved. Done ... and no extra money spent!!!!!!!!!
Its really crazy that the information for such a simple thing is not readily available. Especially being such a simple fix.
I know im not the only person who's had this issue , because i've seen numerous posts with similar wording.
I also know I wont be the last person to have this issue... So I hope this synopsis makes sense.
-------One more time the fix------
*Insert your OS dvd into your dvd rom drive.
*Unplug your primary HD or corrupted startup disk
*Reboot your machine...
Upon restart your primary HD will not be recognized...
* you will then be prompted to select your language.
Once selected
*Click Utilities/startup... Highlight the the selection that refers to the OS dvd located in the dvd rom drive.
* Click restart...
!!!!!!!!!!Be sure to reconnect your Primary HD Before your computer restarts and you hear the chime!!!!!!!!
If you do not replug your HD before the chime it will not be recognized.
In that case restart again.
Upon restart once again
*Choose your language...
*Click Utilities / disk utility
In the left column select and
*Highlight your HD ...
Then towards the top portion / center of the page
*Click the heading Erase
Then on the page toward the bottom
*Click security options
This will then provide erase options.
I USED THE FIRST OPTION
"Dont erase data"...
*click OK
* click erase...
Once erased which should take a few seconds
*Cancel the disk utility...
* Click Utilities / startup
And your newly erased HD should now appear in the list.
* Select your drive from the list by highlighting
It should no longer have a name.
*Once selected, you will then be prompted to restart and install the OS to your newly erased HD...
Thats it!!!!
Once everything reinstalls re-add your personal info or registration info and you are up and running.
Goodluck ;)

How to empty the trash mac os 10.8.5 when the system doesn't want you to???

Can't empty the trash on my mac os 10.8.5 Reason provided by the system: The operation can’t be completed because you don’t have permission to access some of the items. and it is my computer. Help!

Hold down the Option key while emptying. Get Trash It.http://www.nonamescriptware.com/
Or see the remedy for this in http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/trash.html

I inadvertently deleted and emptied the trash bin on Firefox. I have a MAC OSX-VERSION 10.4.11. How can I re-install the latest version of Firefox that is COMPUTER FRIENDLY for the MAC OSX Version 10.4.11? I appreciate any help.

I inadvertently deleted Firefox and emptied the trash bin. I believe it was version 3.5. I have a MAC OSX 10.4.11. After several futile attemps how can I re-install the latest version of Firefox compatible to my MAC system? Thanks!

As of Firefox 4.0 and newer the Firefox builds from Mozilla requires both Mac OSX 10.'''5'''+ and a Intel.
Either you can use 3.6.19 from http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/all-older.html
Though for you 3.6.18 will be safe also as 3.6.19 was to workaround a font crashing issue on 10.7 Lion that was not fixed in time on Lion before release. http://releases.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/releases/3.6.18/mac/ and pick your language and download the Firefox 3.6.18.dmg

My mac space was full, and i noticed that i had 10,000 images, so i deleted all of my images and emptied the trash, now i they don't appear on iphoto or anywhere, is there anyway i could get all of those images back so i can then store them in a device?

my mac space was full, and i noticed that i had 10,000 images, so i deleted all of my images and emptied the trash, now i they don't appear on iphoto or anywhere, is there anyway i could get all of those images back so i can then store them in a device?

yes, its the macbook air and mac OS X 10.7.4, not sure how that goes, about the time machine and time capsule, i only started using it today, when they were already deleted, also read at the support and help of iphoto, that if you delete your images from the picture folder that the images will be corrupted permanently, does this mean there there is no actual way of getting them back?
Thanks for the help x

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 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.

My Firefox (with all my hundreds of Bookmarked sites!) is gone! I emptied the Trash on my Mac and somehow Firefox is gone too! What do I do?!?

I am right in the middle of a huge project for school and was trying to clear my computer off and empty the Trash. I don't know how the two are related, but I emptied the Trash and now Firefox is gone! Can I retrieve it? How can I prevent this horror from happening again? What should I do??

Firefox stores your bookmarks inside your "Profile" folder which is located at:
Your home folder > Library > Application Support > Firefox > Profiles.
Please check if this folder is still present. If so, then copy it to some safe location.
Then, install Firefox again and restore your bookmarks.
For more information on these steps, please read this article: [http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Backing%20up%20your%20information Backing up your information]
If you wish to know more about Profiles, please read [http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Profiles this] article.

Why does it take hours to empty the trash on my Mac?

My harddisks are getting full and it lasts hours to move files into the trash (I guess that this is done sequentially). So first I asked the system to empty the trash securely. And in the trash were 3 big files (.mov movies with 7GB each).
The activity monitor shows that the CPU is working full speed (2008 MacMini with Core 2 Duo Processor.
What happens? What can I do to speed up things?
Any help appreciated
Ueli

Select Apple menu > 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, read this support article:
You can't empty the Trash or move a file to the Trash

I don't have permission to empty the trash securely.

The initial cause of the problem may be that accidentally dragged my downloads folder from the tool bar into the trash. I do not see the downloads folder in the trash. When I try to empty the trash, I see indication that many files are being deleted. I eventually get a message telling me that I do not have sufficient permission to empty the trash. My options are STOP or CONTINUE. Seems that no matter what option I choose, no more trash disappears. Please advise. Thanks in advance.

Repairing permissions is important, and should always be carried out both before and after any software installation or update.
Go to Disk Utility (this is in your Utilities Folder in your Application folder) and click on the icon of your hard disk (not the one with all the numbers).
In First Aid, click on Repair Permissions.
This only takes a minute or two in Tiger, but much longer in Leopard.
Background information here:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=25751
and here:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=302672
An article on troubleshooting Permissions can be found here:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2963
By the way, you can ignore any messages about SUID or ACL file permissions, as explained here:
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1448?viewlocale=en_US
If you were having any serious problems with your Mac you might as well complete the exercise by repairing your hard disk as well. You cannot do this from the same start-up disk. Reboot from your install disk (holding down the C key). Once it opens, select your language, and then go to Disk Utility from the Utilities menu. Select your hard disk as before and click Repair.
Once that is complete reboot again from your usual start-up disk.
More useful reading here:
Resolve startup issues and perform disk maintenance with Disk Utility and fsck
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1417?viewlocale=en_US
For a full description of how to resolve Disk, Permission and Cache Corruption, you should read this FAQ from the X Lab:
http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/repairprocess.html

I tried to empty the trash, full of back up file from my hard disk and it just says: "The operation can't be completed because an unexpected error occurred (error code -8003)"

I have an external hard disk of 319.73 GB that I use as back up memory and where I put all the movies and other files that I can't leave on the computer as they occupy too much memory space . One day I was deleting all the previous dated back up to have more space on it , but had to stop the trash for doing it cause it was taking too long and now every time that I try to empty the trash it just says "The operation can’t be completed because an unexpected error occurred (error code -8003)" and even if I press CONTINUE it won't empting it . I'm not really pratical with this things and I tried already to find out the solution here and on Google but apparently nobody ever had a similar error code and I don't know what else to do.
I've a MacBook Pro with a Mac OS X 10.6.8 Version.
Thanks again for the help and sorry if I did some english mistakes !
PEACE & LOVE

Hey donnie90,
It seems like this article might be the best for helping you address this issue:
You can't empty the Trash or move a file to the Trash
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1526
Thanks for coming to the Apple Support Communities!
Regards,
Braden

My Mac is stuck on preparing to empty the trash stopping

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