Out of drive space so cannot empty trash

Out of drive space so need to empty trash to make more space to work towards installing a bigger HD.  Any suggestions to force emptying of trash.  Can't turn File Vault off as out of HD space.  Catch 22......

Make a new folder, move most everything out of the Trash to that folder, try emptying the Trash a few files at a time. Do not try Secure Empty trash yet.

Similar Messages

  • HT1338 MacBook Pro 10.6.8 error 2008 cannot empty trash. Any new solution?

    MacBook Pro 10.6.8 error 2008 cannot empty trash. Any new solution?

    Okay.   Try Googling Macbook error 8003.   Item1 and others below it relate to that error.

  • How do I override "error code -61" when attempting to put things in the Trash? Cannot empty Trash or use Secure Empty Trash.

    How do I override "error code -61" when attempting to put items in the Trash?  Cannot empty Trash or use Secure Empty Trash. I have a MacBook OS X 10.5.8

    The reason why some of the files are blocking the trash from emptying is because of specific ".app" files from third party companies like Adobe products. Not the user files or the various help documents but instead the actual mother program. Here's how to fix this problem:
    1) remove from the trash all the actual software programs like Photoshop, InDesign, DreamWeaver and so on and put them on the desktop.
    2) Command "I" (info) and when the dialog box opens go to the "Name & Extension" text box and remove the ".app" from the software name. Example: Photoshop.app change to Photoshop.
    3) the program icon will change to a "folder icon".
    4) put the folder icon back into the trash and you should be able to now empty the trash.
    If you continue to get the error code 8003 it's because you may still have one or more software programs in the trash that needs to go through this process. Remember - it's not the user files or help documents or supporting files that is causing this but instead the "actual product programs".
    JKai

  • My Macbook Air can delete files and folders and take them to Trash Can but cannot delete from Trash Can . Cannot empty trash securely.

    My Macbook Air can delete files and folders and take them to Trash Can but cannot delete from Trash Can . Cannot empty trash securely.

    Launch the Console application in any of the following ways:
    ☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
    ☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
    ☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Console in the icon grid.
    Make sure the title of the Console window is All Messages. If it isn't, select All Messages from the SYSTEM LOG QUERIES menu on the left. If you don't see that menu, select
    View ▹ Show Log List
    from the menu bar.
    Click the Clear Display icon in the toolbar. Then try the action that you're having trouble with again. Select any messages that appear in the Console window. Copy them to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C. Paste into a reply to this message by pressing command-V.
    When posting a log extract, be selective. In most cases, a few dozen lines are more than enough.
    Please do not indiscriminately dump thousands of lines from the log into this discussion.
    Important: Some private information, such as your name, may appear in the log. Anonymize before posting.

  • I have a 2008 Mac Book Pro partitioned running windows and are running out of drive space. Can I upgrade hard drive for more capacity?

    I have a 2008 Mac Book Pro partitioned running windows and are running out of drive space. Can I upgrade hard drive for more capacity? I purchased a faster drive initially, but has 200 GB capacity. I am running out of room and would like to upgrade for more space if possible.
    Can anyone suggest an alternative?

    You don't need to partition your drive to run Fusion, only if you want to run Bootcamp.
    If you have space on your Windows partition, I would suggest you backup your Windows partition, and then, delete the partition using Disk Utility.
    You can now restore your virtual machine to a single volume or repartition if you prefer.
    I would consider upgrading to a unibody MBP (used, refurbished will do) just to be able to access the HD. Opening the pre-unibody MBP is not something you would want to do.

  • System is freezing up on import. I have tried to reboot my computer three times, but that hasn't worked.  I have tried clearing out hard drive space and that hasn't worked.

    I have tried to reboot my computer three times, but that hasn't worked.  I have tried clearing out hard drive space and that hasn't worked.

    Mdgc wrote:
    My imac will not authorize itune movie downloads to my ipad.
    What exactly does this mean? Your iMac doesn't authorize anything. Are you getting an error message or what message are you getting with regard to authorizing? The iPad is not authorized? What?
    No do not restore yet.

  • I cannot empty trash on my Mac Pro when I have external drives attached

    I try emptying trash and get the message, "Operation can't be completed because you don't have permission to access some of the items."  When I remove the external flash drives, the trash is empty.  As soon as I reconnect the drives, same message occurs when I try to empty the trash.  Help!

    Every file and folder in Mac OS X has some permission settings to help define what you or other users can do with the file or folder, for example whether you may modify it or not. If see an alert box with a message that says you do not have "sufficient" privilege or permission, see the tips in the "Emptying the Trash" section ofthis article.

  • Cannot send files to trash...cannot empty trash of certain folders...

    Hi, Bit of a problem with deleting certain files from my external hard drive.
    There seems to be some files that finder doesn't like moving to the trash, I move them, and it asks for my password. I do this and they remain in place. I've tried over and over, emptying trash and rebooting eternal hard disk. This works for most stuff, why i dont know... :/
    Some folders still wont die, so I open problem folder and move to trash one at a time - this actually works for all but one folder. I had no problem deleting this folder before when moving stuff back and forth from my old PC. It doesnt seem to be write protected. What do I do???
    ALSO - some of the stuff that did move to trash now refuses to be emptied form trash folder. It says: cannot complete operation because you do not have sufficient user privileges. I want aware i needed any to delete these seemingly mundane files - one folder that wont go is empty also...
    can anyone suggest anything?
    many thanks,
    Mr T

    it seems clear that the drive in question is a windows drive formatted FAT. OS X often has various problems with such drives of the sort you are seeing now. in that case the ONLY remedy short of completely reformatting the drive is to delete the folders in question from Windows.

  • Time Machine back-up in Trash now cannot empty trash

    I did a really stupid thing - In up grading to a new iMac, I moved the TM backup file from an external HD to the trash using the finder. Now I cannot empty the trash. I know that I should have used TM to delete the back up file, but what can I do now to clear the trash. I am not interested in saving the backup file.

    David Kay5 wrote:
    what can I do now to clear the trash. I am not interested in saving the backup file.
    Go to /Applications /Utilities/Terminal and launch it.
    At the prompt, copy and paste this commandsudo rm -rf ~/.TrashPress 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.
    -mj

  • 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

  • I have a new Windows tablet computer with limited hard drive space, and cannot transfer my itunes library to the hard drive. Can I run t media from an external hard drive? If so, how do I transfer my files?

    I have a new Windows tablet computer with limited hard drive space (32 GB), and cannot transfer my itunes library to the hard drive. Can I run itunes from an external hard drive? I have tried to follow some of the directions on this site, but am having no success. Thanks.

    iTunes will run fine with the media on an external drive.
    However, I suggest that a tablet computer with a tiny hard drive is not ideal as the primary computer for managing an iTunes library, even a small one. If you have another machine, perhaps a big, boxy, inexpensive old desktop with a decent amount of storage, that might be a better choice.
    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1364

  • Cannot empty trash due to htm in use.

    1. I do Finder>empty trash get a message "wmphelp.htm" is locked. I remove the file from the trash and do FILE> GET INFO, and it shows the file is UNLOCKED. I put the file back in the trash.
    2. Next I do FINDER>SECURE EMPTY TRASH and I get the message "The operation cannot be completed because the item "htm is in use".
    My question is how do I stop "htm" long enough to empty the trash?
    Thank you in advance,
    Art

    I gather you are trying to delete Windows Media Player. Generally if you hold down the Option key on the keyboard and select empty trash everything in the trash gets nuked, locked or unlocked. Make sure you don't have another copy of WMP running...
    Francine
    Francine
    Schwieder

  • Cannot empty Trash .....  Loosing Firefox Settings

    Hi
    I have 2 questions:
    1. I am having problem emptying Trash. I keep getting following message : "The operation cannot be completed because the item "wmphelp.htm" is locked. It message also has the yellow triangle with an exclamation mark.
    2. Every few weeks I loose all the settings (bookmarks etc ) on my Firefox browser. I am not sure how this happens but there does not seem to be a pattern.
    Hope someone can give me hints
    Thanks

    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 much easier and quicker 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.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!
    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
    Mac OS X 10.2: Cannot delete an incomplete copy or download
    http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107426
    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

  • Cannot empty trash because item is owned by 'unknown'

    I am trying to delete 16 files from an old Time Machine backup. The trash refuses to empty, returning the error message above. Doing a cmd-i shows no users and says 'you have unknown access'. There is no option to set myself as the owner (and no padlock symbol). I have tried the Terminal sdu rm -rf command but still it will not delete. The files are old (2004-2008) system Preferences files of the form:
    com.apple.FontBook.plist
    com.apple.dock.db
    etc.
    Is there a way to reset the ownership and to remove these files?
    Thanks.

    I doubt that re-installing the OS will accomplish anything. I think that the problematic trashed items are still on the same external drive that they were on originally, and if so, re-installing the OS will not affect such items.
    The Trash window you see when you open the Trash icon on the dock can represent more than one folder. When you move an item on your startup disk to the Trash, it goes into a hidden folder named .Trash in your home directory. Files on external volumes that are trashed are stored separately, in a hidden .Trashes folder at the root level of each external drive. The external trash is segregated by user, so that the trash belonging to the user whose UID is 501 goes into the .Trashes/501 folder on the external drive, etc. The contents of the separate user-specific trash folders appear together in the single Trash window that you see when you open the Trash icon in the dock.
    So if you log into a different user account, the Dock Trash icon there will probably act normally, because it no longer includes the contents of the .Trashes/501 folder on the external drive - it will be looking at a different subfolder there, such as .Trashes/502, along with the .Trash folder in that account's Home folder. Likewise if you shut down, disconnect the external TM drive, and then restart, the Trash icon should again be able to be emptied, because the "bad" files are no longer mounted. Re-connecting the external drive will re-create the problem.
    If your system does behave this way, I think it isolates the problem to the external drive itself, not to any issue with the OS.

  • Cannot empty trash: "The operation can't be completed because the item ...

    I've been having trouble emptying the trash. I get the following error, "The operation can’t be completed because the item "_file name_" is in use."
    I've tried unlocking the files, but the unlock doesn't seem to stick.
    I'm not sure if this is related, but a couple of months ago, I had a repair done and since then some of my software have required me to enter my license information again; apparently it looked as if I was running the programs on a different machine.
    Anyone have tips/solns?

    Thank you!
    I ended up sticking the startup disc in, restarting while holding down the "c" key, and "using the Reset Home Directory Permissions and ACLs function of the Reset Paswoord function of the Utilities menu."
    It worked perfectly; I now have an empty trash can.

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