May 12,2020 • Filed to: Recycle Bin Recovery • Proven solutions
“My Mac is full of files that I need to get rid of but each time I try; I get an error indicating that the file is in use. How can I force empty trash Mac?”
How to perform a force empty trash on Mac through its terminal? Now, let’s learn how to do a force empty trash on Mac in a very effective way. If you cannot get rid of the items in the trash, you can use this option. In this case, we will be using the terminal, so you don’t need to download any third-party app. How to Empty Trash on Mac Normally? https://cleverpa505.weebly.com/blog/screencast-on-mac-app. There are easy ways to get your trash emptied in your Mac. This tutorial shows you how to securely empty the trash on a Mac computer. Recommended for you: 9 Free Files And Folder Unlocker – Delete Locked Undeletable Files 8 Free Duplicate Files Cleaner / Finder For Windows And macOS 4 Best Apple Firewall Apps For macOS X Web Application Security 5 Free Advanced Android File Transfer App For macOS.
Now, some of these programs might be actually be ones that you do want to launch automatically, such as the Safari web browser, or Apple Mail. But other, not-so-necessary programs may be piling up in your Mac’s “login items” list, too—ones that set themselves to launch automatically without asking first.Another factor that may be slowing down your system is the Mac’s “Resume” feature, which re-opens any and all apps you had running when you shut down your Mac. Cross items off your Mac’s “Login Items” listYour Mac launches a series of programs each and every time it starts up. That could lead to a crush of apps all trying to launch themselves at startup.Last but not least, you may have specific programs on your Mac with “Launch at Startup” settings that you’ll need to find and disable.Now, if you’re the patient type, waiting a little longer for your Mac to boot up so that your programs appear just as you left them might be a fair trade-off.But if you’d rather shave a few seconds—or even minutes—off the time it takes for your Mac to settle down after hitting the power button, read on. https://cleverpa505.weebly.com/prevent-apps-from-opening-on-startup-mac.html. To delete these or other startup items from the list (but not from your Mac, mind you), just select them and click the “-” button at the bottom of the list.
Sep 25, 2020 Alternatively, you can also close all the running apps to make sure that the file is no more being used by any of the apps. Now try to empty trash, if it still doesn’t clear the dump, keep reading. Force Empty Trash in Mac OS X When File is Locked or in Use. In case you are getting a Locked file error, then press and hold the Option key, go. How to Force Empty Trash on Mac via Terminal Part 3. How to Empty Trash on Mac Completely Part 4. How to Secure Empty Trash via Finder. If you need to completely remove some of your sensitive information which is inaccessible, then you will be needing to do this with the “Secure Empty Trash” feature on your Mac PC.
Many a time you may think that you have deleted the unwanted files from your Mac but this is not always the case. Some folders have a tendency of resisting this noble call, refusing to be permanently deleted. What happens is that these files are just transferred to the trash and not deleted parse. The only way out is to get solution how to force empty trash in Mac. But first, let’s see why files refuse to get deleted, making you to force empty them instead.
Part 1. Reasons Why You Can’t Delete Trash on Mac Hence Force Emptying
- If there are special characters on the names of some files, it will be difficult to delete them. This is because your Mac considers them as too important. The solution here is to rename the files so as to make deletion possible.
- Some files may also be locked. Such files display a lock emblem and until they are unlocked, it is futile to delete them. Check at the lower-left corner of the file icons to know whether it is locked. If so, unlock it.
- You may also be dragged to force empty trash Mac if the files are under system protection integrity and therefore cannot be easily deleted.
- In a wider range, your files may be corrupted and need repairing first before deletion.
- The file in question may be in use and so the background operation cannot enable you to delete it.
Part 2. Several Methods You Can Use to Force Empty Trash on Mac
Method 1: Force Empty Trash on Mac Using Terminal
Using this option will ensure that your locked files or folders are deleted as you wish.
- Go to Applications and search for Terminal to launch it.
- Insert sudo rm-R and add in a space. Remember not to hit the Enter button lest your command backfires.
- Check at the dock and click all the trash icons in it. Then select all the folders and files that you need to be force delete. Drag them to the ‘Terminal window’ that you had opened earlier.
- Next, press the ‘Enter’ button.
- You need to use your administer password at this point. Enter the password once your Mac prompts you. Click on the ‘Enter’ button once more to finish and force delete trash Mac.
Method 2: Force Empty Trash on Mac Using Third-Party Utilities
You can also use the several third-party utilities that are currently available in the market. However, you need to ensure that you download a version that will be compatible with your macOS. Try any of these two common third-party utilities.
Trash It!
This is a Trash App utility that you can use to force delete trash in a very simple way.
![Mac Mac](/uploads/1/3/3/9/133904185/360636126.png)
- You first need to download a Trash It version that is compatible with your operating system.
- Next, install the App on your Mac and then you can proceed to force delete any of the files that need your attention.
Cocktail
This is another third-party utility that brings you a whole lot of functionalities. Use it to clean your Mac, repair or optimize it for the better. Its user interface is pretty easy to use, especially having been arranged in five categories to suit your need at any appropriate time.
- To force empty trash Mac, download Cocktail app to your Mac computer.
- Once the software has been successfully installed, launch it and then look among its five features for a dire action. Choose empty trash so as to help delete trash from your Mac computer.
Method 3: Force Empty Trash on Mac by Restarting and Try Again
There are a couple of times when you might have tried to delete a file and yet it is held back by a system background process. This scenario will force you to restart your computer before proceeding on with the deletion.
- First and foremost, close all the applications that are using that same file that you need to delete.
- Then go to the trash bin and right click on it. Choose the option ‘empty trash’.
- In the event that this process doesn’t work, then know that some background processes have not yet been closed.
- Go ahead and restart your computer.
- Once it is turned on, go ahead and empty the trash.
Method 4: Force Empty Trash on Mac in Safe Mode
Whenever data is still in use, there is no way out to easily delete it. Ensure you have closed all the applications that may be using the same file that you are trying to delete. However, you may also opt to use the safe mode so as to empty trash easily.
- Ensure you have closed all the applications that are associated with the file you are trying to delete.
- The next move is for you to try and empty the trash.
- If this doesn’t work, start up in Safe Mode. Do this by holding the shift key as the Mac continues to load.
- Then empty the trash as desired. It would be a good move to restart your PC whenever you are faced with similar challenges.
Method 5: Force Empty Trash on Mac with Option Key
As long as an item is locked, there is limited functionality that can be done on such an item. One easy way out is to use the ‘Option Key’ to enable you to empty trash Mac.
- Press and hold the mouse button on the Trash icon. This will enable the context menu for the trash to be populated.
- Hold down the option key for about 30 seconds.
- Finally, select ‘force empty trash’ from the context menu.
Part 3. How to Recover Data That You Accidentally Force Emptied
You may at times force delete trash and then suddenly realize that you’ve done a terrible mistake. It could be that it was accidentally force emptied from your Mac computer without having a second thought. When you get into such a scenario, you should be quick to look out for an App that can help salvage your needed files. One such tool, Recoverit (IS) for Mac, has the potential to bring back your lost data.
Recoverit (IS) for Mac
Features that make Recoverit (IS) for Mac an after sought tool
- It lets you recover unlimited deleted files on Mac such as document files, photos, graphics and videos, among others.
- It is pretty easy to use and will solve any data lost issue that your Mac OS device is faced with including trash recovery, recovery from lost partition and time machine backup recovery.
- You can also use it to recover data lost from any storage device on your Mac such as removable drives, memory cards, cameras and other large storage devices.
- This App is easy to use, with only 3 steps to recover.
3,015,629 people have downloaded it
A step-by-step guide on how to recover accidentally force emptied data - using Recoverit (IS) for Mac
Step 1 Run the program on you Mac
Download and install the App on your Mac OS device. Next, launch the program and choose a recovery mode from the available list. Select the ‘Trash Recovery’ option.
Step 2 Scan recycle bin
The next step is to do a quick scan on the recycle trash. If by any chance you fail to get your needed files, you can proceed to an all-around scanning. The end of this process should make available your files.
Step 3 Preview and Recover files
This app gives you the opportunity to preview all the recoverable files, regardless of the data type. This should lead you to picking only the files that you need to recover. Do this by ticking the small box against the needed files. The last step is to click on the ‘Recover’ button and save them to your Mac computer.
Conclusion
There is nobody who has never experienced those bad day moments. This can appear worse if it concerns some important elements of life. Such scenarios may include accidental deletion of data when trying to force empty trash Mac. Does this ring a bell? Well, here’s the kicker: it is still possible to recover your lost data even if it’s already deleted from the recycle trash. With just a few steps, Recoverit (IS) for Mac is available to make all ends meet in regard to recovery of data from any Mac operating system device.
Accidentally emptied trash on Mac and find it impossible to restore? Don't panic! It's sure that emptied trash can be recovered from Mac and your important data can be restored to where they are. Read on to recover files from trash on Mac easily!
Is It Possible to Recover Emptied Trash on Mac?
Though Apple claims that once the Trash is emptied, the files in it will be deleted permanently; however, they are still lying in your computer! The fact is when you delete something on your Mac, it just turns to somehow invisible and be marked as 'replaceable' by the system for writing new data. The deleted trash is not really emptied until a new file is using its space. Therefore, to enhance the possibility to find your files back, avoid downloading or creating new files on your Mac in case that the emptied trash may be replaced by new files.
https://cleverpa505.weebly.com/blog/is-there-a-mac-system-app-to-clean-computer. https://cleverpa505.weebly.com/simple-gtd-app-mac.html. However, not all emptied trash can be recovered on Mac. You can recover deleted trash from Mac when you:
- Drag a file to the Trash and then click Empty Trash;
- Choose a file on Finder and select 'Empty Trash..';
- Permanently delete a file using Option-Shift-Command-Delete buttons;
- Click 'Delete Immediately' to bypass Trash and directly delete a file.
But you cannot undelete trash when the file is erased by Secure Empty Trash. Secure Empty Trash is a option available on OS X El Capitan or earlier, which will not only delete a file, but also write a series of ones and zeroes over the deleted file, making it impossible to recover by any software. So if your trash is securely emptied, there is little chance to get it back. (Learn More: How to Securely Empty Trash on Mac)
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How to Recover Emptied Trash from Mac
Even that we know it is possible to recover emptied trash, we still cannot undo Empty Trash without a professional data recovery program, since there is no 'undo' button for Empty Trash command. To easily restore trash files on Mac, you need the help of FonePaw Data Recovery. It can undo empty trash safely and quickly and retrieve deleted images, videos, audios, emails, documents and more in the emptied trash. Moreover, FonePaw Data Recovery can also be your best choice to find data deleted or lost during system restore, factory reset or system update.
The longer time you wait, the more likely the files are covered by new ones. Download it now and restore trash on Mac in only 3 steps!
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Follow the simple three steps to recover files from trash. Believe me, it won't take long.
![Mac Mac](/uploads/1/3/3/9/133904185/422617145.jpg)
Step One: Get Started
Install FonePaw Data Recovery and open it. In the homepage, you can select data type and location to scan lost data. You can choose the certain types of files you have emptied from Trash, such as image, audio, video, or document. Then click 'Scan' to get started.
Step Two: Search for Emptied Trash on Mac
After you click the Scan button, FonePaw Data Recovery will start quick scan automatically. When done, enter '~trash' in the search box to find emptied items on Trash.
Tips: You can preview the result by type. And in case you find the result not satisfying, click 'Deep Scan' to find more emptied trash. It may need some time, even a day if your Mac has large-capacity disks.
Step Three: Recover Emptied Trash on Mac
Choose the deleted trash that you want to recover. Click 'Recover'. Then check the output folder, and all the files you choose should reappear.
Empty Trash App Mac Desktop
Isn't it easy? The longer time you wait, the less likely the files can be recovered, because even browsing around on the Internet can produce new files. Just download FonePaw Data Recovery
Empty Trash App Mac Download
All the above are the simplest way to quickly recover emptied trash on Mac. Also, it can be helpful to restore deleted files. Losing important data is devastating, and we hope this passage help. If you find this passage useful, please give us a like and share it to your friends!