My MacAir won't empty the trash

My MacAir won't empty my trash. Says it has 4,433 items to empty, which may be too much. WhenI open the trash, I can find only 17 items. I have been having trouble with my HD being too full - it has been around 249 - 250 GBs. Now it is down to 220 GBs. Please help!

Hold down the option key and empty the Trash.

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My MBA won't empty the trash and I'm almost out of memory. It's not a year old yet.

My MBA won't empty the trash and I'm almost out of memory. It can't upgrade too! I just got it last august 2013.

Mac troubleshooting: What to do when the Trash won’t empty | Macworld

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.

I backed up then erased 118 gigs worth of photos, but my storage still says I'm full. I emptied the trash and rebooted but my computer won't recognize the empty space. What gives?

I backed up then erased 118 gigs worth of photos, but my storage still says I'm full. I emptied the trash and rebooted, but my computer won't recognize the empty space. What gives? I erased all my iPhoto pictures from the pictures folder in Finder so I could restore a backup from my Time Capsule. When I try to restore the library, I get a message that there's not enough room on my computer to restore. I have a Macbook Pro with 250 gig hard drive. I would greatly appreciate some help. Thanks!

If you're trying to add a large amount of data all at once, and you get an alert of insufficient space, then from the menu bar, select
 ▹ System Preferences... ▹ Time Machine
If the padlock icon is closed, click it to unlock the settings and authenticate. Turn Time Machine OFF, then back ON and close the preference pane. Restart the computer. Test.

Getting error code 8003 when trying to empty trash, lots and lots of stuff in there but it won't let me empty the trash.

getting error code 8003 when trying to empty trash, lots and lots of stuff in there but it won't let me empty the trash.

Thomas...
Try Trash IT for Mac > http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/8214/trash-it!
It helped users with the same issue here > https://discussions.apple.com/message/16995454#16995454

My Macbook Pro trash won't empty the last 200 files

I consistantly cannot fully empty the trash file on my Macbook Pro. Running 10.6.8. No message is given, it just stops emptying at around 200 files. Files are not locked.

Thank you so much for your quick respond.
Yes, I can finally find my files. Usually, when I plug in the recorder, the IC_RECORDER icon will come up on the desktop and then when I click on it, it'll show some folders and one of those folders will contain the audio files, so I don't have to find them manually in the Finder Window. Is there anything I could do to fix this and make it like how it used to be?
What OS would you recommend me to use?
Thanks!

TS3297 I can't empty the trash. I keep getting error code -8003, I have tried the terminal methods including both sudo and chflags. The apps that won't delete are

I can't empty the trash I have three different versions of Quicken Essentials that should have been deleted and also some iskysoft apps [two ]. I tries to delete them but I always get a -8003 error. I ve tried using the terminal with both the sudo and chflags methods. No effect. Can anyone give a method that would work to delete the five? In advanced appreciation.

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

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 startup disk keeps saying it is full but I have deleted as much as I can and emptied the trash......what do I do?

My startup disk keeps saying it is full and has done for a few moths. I have been through and deleted as much as I can, transferred movies to an external drive and emptied the trash, but it keeps coming up as full again after a while even though I haven't loaed anything else on......what do I do? It is so short of space now that it is saying there isn't enough memory to run some applications?? HELP!! I am new at all this stuff.

It sounds like a runaway process is filling up your volume.
Boot in safe mode. First, disconnect all wired peripherals except keyboard, mouse, and monitor, if applicable, and remove all aftermarket expansion cards. The instructions provided by Apple are as follows:
Be sure your Mac is shut down.
Press the power button.
Immediately after you hear the startup tone, hold the Shift key. The Shift key should be held as soon as possible after the startup tone, but not before the tone.
Release the Shift key when you see the gray Apple icon and the progress indicator (looks like a spinning gear).
The login screen appears even if you usually log in automatically. You must know your login password in order to log in. If you’ve forgotten the password, you will need to reset it before you begin.
Safe mode is much slower to boot and run than normal, and some things won’t work at all, including your login items.
Use a tool such as the one linked below to explore your volume and find out what's taking up the space:
OmniDiskSweeper - Products - The Omni Group

Please help me delete files and empty the trash..

I am unable to empty the trash and also delete files from an extrnal HD.
Its so ridiculous. Finder ***** big time again.
Is there a simple solution without having to read pages of instructions or open terminal and start typing things i dont understand that could harm my mac?
thanks

Some of the suggestions you may have already tried: 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
Apple admit it
These are user-to-user forums where everyday folk (volunteers) post questions and offer answers (technical support) to each other.
Apple involvement. Apple may respond to questions but does not formally provide technical support on the Site. Any information that is provided by Apple or Apple employees is offered on an "AS IS" basis without warranties of any kind.
Post your complaints/concerns/suggestions on the Product Feedback website.

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.

It seems that somehow I no longer have permission to empty the trash...

Recently, I have run into a problem in that I can't empty the trash because, according to the pop up, I do not have permission to delete some items that are in the trash. ***?
The items I currently can't delte were put there from a jump (flash) drive. Is this the issue? I didn't have that probelm before upgrading to Lion. How can I get permission to empty the trash so that these things come off the flash drive and the trash get emptied?
Thanks for any help....

With that one, I get
rm: illegal operation
usage:rm [-f |-i] [-dPRrvw]file ...
unlink file
(My Name)-iMac:~(my name) (the password)
-bash: (password): command not found
(My Name)-iMac:~(my name)
In the case of the parenthisis, my name is showing as my actual name--although the last letter of name has an s added to it, whcih sometimes shows up as a dollar sign, and the password in parenthisis is the correct password.
Still nothing as far as getting the file out of the trash
Could the 'unlink file' string have something to do with OS X doesn't remove the file totally from the flash drive until it's been erased in the trash And if it isn't getting it erased in the trash, it won't be erased on the flash drive. It should be noted that within the flash drive is an unhighlighted file named .Trashes.
Really confused and frustrated at this point.
< Edited By Host >

Weird error when trying to empty the trash

Recently, at times when I try and empty the trash I am getting this error:
The operation cannot be completed because one or more required items cannot be found.
(Error code -43).
It doesn't happen all the time and it isn't consistent. The only thing that has changed recently is I did need to take it into the Genius Bar and have them replace the power supply, but I highly doubt that has anything to do with it. Any help greatly appreciated.

Look at these links.
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
 Cheers, Tom

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

I still cannot empty the trash! Tons of error messages keep popping up:
The operation cannot be completed because the item "wmphelp.htm" is locked"
-- WMPIcon.gif is locked
-- windowshade.gif is locked
-- whatsnew.htm is locked
-- volume.gif is locked
-- viewinginfo.htm is locked
-- upgradingwmp.htm is locked
-- understandingwm.htm is locked
-- understandingstream.htm is locked
and hundreds, maybe even thousands of similar messages appear!! I must empty the trash. What can I do???
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

I cannot empty the trash. I get Error -8003.

I cannot empty the trash. I get Error -8003. How can I empty the trash or securely empty the trash?

http://download.cnet.com/Trash-It/3000-2094_4-25829.html
Works for me, especially with the annoying PDFs that won't trash.

My MacAir won't empty the trash

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