How to Force the Mac Trash Can to Empty
- 1). Empty the Trash from the Finder by clicking on the Special menu and selecting Empty Trash.
- 2). If you get a dialog box that says the Trash contains locked items, either remove and unlock them, or hold down the Option key, click on the Special menu and select Empty Trash.
- 3). If the Trash still doesn't empty, restart your Mac, and try the Option-Empty Trash trick again.
- 4). If the Trash still doesn't empty, drag the intransigent folder to your desktop.
- 5). Change the name of the folder to the name of another folder on your disk.
- 6). Open the folder that has the name you used. Put its contents inside the intransigent folder on your desktop - the one you just renamed.
- 7). Trash the now-empty folder from your disk. Move the newly named (and formerly intransigent) folder onto your disk to replace the one you've trashed.
- 8). Empty the Trash.
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