Skip to content

5000+ Great Articles

Best Articles & Essays: Interesting Articles to Read Online

  • The best sites of 2022 for online geography games Cool Websites
  • How do I customize my AirPod settings? Tutorials
  • How to Set Up Multiple User Profiles on Android Smartphones
  • How to Convert Your Apple Notes to PDF Tutorials
  • The Use Of Remote Desktop in Windows 10 Windows 10
  • The 7 Browser Extensions That Every Chrome User Should Be Using Tools Review
  • Can you download netflix on chromebook How-To
  • how many computer viruses are there 2021 Computer Tips

Quickly Empty the Trash in OS X using Terminal

Posted on October 6, 2020 By blog_786 No Comments on Quickly Empty the Trash in OS X using Terminal

For some reason, emptying the Trash in OS X has always been a slow process, especially if you have a lot of files in there. I filled a huge folder with over 10,000 items and it took me a whopping 30 minutes to throw it away!

There is nothing you can do about it, since this is how the operating system works, but if you know how to use the Terminal and are not afraid of it, you can speed up the process.

The first thing you can do is make sure you don’t delete your Trash securely. This is an option in OS X that will completely overwrite the data that was stored where these deleted files were.

Essentially, it ensures that no data can be recovered once it is deleted. Most people won’t want this unless they store top-secret information that they would not want anyone to see even after the data is deleted.

Go to Finder, then click Preferences and then click Advanced.

Make sure the Safely empty trash bin is not checked. If you checked this for any reason, it would take much longer to empty the trash. If this box is not checked and emptying the Trash is still slow, you can empty the Trash using Terminal.

Note. The Safe Empty Trash option has been removed from OS X El Capitan and likely all future versions of OS X.

Empty Trash using Terminal

Open Terminal by going to Applications, Utilities and Terminal and enter the following command:

rm -rf ~ / .Trash / *

Make sure you type exactly as shown above, without extra spaces or anything else. Using this command incorrectly can delete files and folders that you did not intend to delete.

Emptying the trash can using the Terminal is significantly faster than the traditional method of using the graphical interface. In most cases, it probably isn’t worth going into Terminal, but if you have a huge amount of data you’ve just deleted it might be worth the extra effort to save time.

Please note that using this command in the terminal does not delete the trash from external hard drives or other partitions, but only local files on your Mac.

If this command does not work for you and the recycle bin is not emptied, you may have to run the command as sudo. To do this, just add sudo in front:

sudo rm -rf ~ / .Trash / *

When you use the sudo command, you will need to enter the password for the account in order for the task to complete. Therefore, if the trash cannot be deleted or you get an error when you try to empty the trash, you can try this method to fix the problem.

Quickly Empty the Trash in OS X using Terminal

This is it! If you have problems / issues emptying the Trash in OS X Lion or have any other thoughts, write a comment here and let us know! Enjoy!

–

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
Mac OS X

Post navigation

Previous Post: iPad 2 – Cannot Connect to WPA2-PSK AES Encrypted Wi-Fi Network?
Next Post: Setup a Second Wireless Router on Your Home Network

Related Posts

  • View Saved Wi-Fi (WPA, WEP) Passwords on OS X Mac OS X
  • 7 OS X Tips for Windows Users Mac OS X
  • Safari Running Slow on Your Mac? Mac OS X
  • Mac Equivalents of Windows Programs and Features Mac OS X
  • How to Burn a DVD on a Mac Mac OS X
  • How to Install Mac OS X using VMware Fusion Mac OS X

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Archives

  • September 2023
  • August 2023
  • July 2023
  • June 2023
  • May 2023
  • April 2023
  • November 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • March 2021
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • December 2019
  • July 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018

Categories

  • AI Tools & Guides
  • Amazon Web Services
  • Apple Watch
  • Computer Tips
  • Cool Websites
  • Featured Posts
  • Free Software Downloads
  • Gadgets
  • Gaming
  • General Software
  • Google Software/Tips
  • Hardware
  • Help Desk
  • How-To
  • iOS
  • iPad
  • iPhone
  • islamic Books
  • Linux
  • Linux Tips
  • Mac OS X
  • macOS
  • MS Office Tips
  • Networking
  • Office Tips
  • OS X
  • Product Reviews
  • Reviews
  • Safari
  • Smart Home
  • Smartphones
  • Software Reviews
  • technology
  • text
  • Tools Review
  • Troubleshooting
  • Tutorials
  • Uncategorized
  • Urdu Books PDF
  • Web Site Tips
  • Windows
  • Windows 10
  • Windows 7
  • Windows XP Tips
  • Wordpress
  • MailTag: Real-time Email Tracking, Made Easy
  • Here are the Top 10 highest paid YouTubers of 2017
  • Protect Your Facebook Account From Hackers (2017)
  • 4 Ways to Share WiFi Without Giving Away Your Password
  • How to Get 2 Free Audiobooks From Audible Trial Instead of 1
DMCA.com Protection Status

Recent Posts

  • How to use Canva Docs to create documents online
  • PS4 won’t turn on but beeps? 9 Fixes Worth Trying
  • How to Create a Vision Board on Canva
  • How to Cancel Your Wall Street Journal (WSJ) Subscription
  • How to Fix Spotify Lyrics Not Showing Up

Recent Comments

  1. How to Cancel Your Wall Street Journal (WSJ) Subscription on How to Cancel Your New York Times Subscription
  2. How to Fix Spotify Lyrics Not Showing Up on How to Delete or Delete Downloads from Spotify
  3. 6 Best FTP Clients For Android on Disney Plus not working on Fire TV? Try These 8 Fixes
  4. Protect Your Facebook Account From Hackers (2017) on Top 5 Facebook Alternative Apps For iOS Devices
  5. 4 Ways to Share WiFi Without Giving Away Your Password on How to fix if PS5 Not Connecting to Internet?
  • How to Change the Boot Sequence in the BIOS How-To
  • How To Identify a DDoS Attack On Your Server & Stop It How-To
  • Use Windows 10 Compatibility Mode To Run Old Programs Windows 10
  • How To Set Up Your Own Twitter-Like Website Using WordPress’ P2 Theme Web Site Tips
  • 2022’s 7 Best Wearable Electronics Gadgets
  • Top Ways to Boost WiFi Signals & Improve Performance Computer Tips
  • How to Fix Grub Rescue Error With Fixmbr Command How-To
  • Create an ISO File from a Folder in Windows How-To

Copyright © 2023 How To Blog.

Powered by PressBook News WordPress theme

Go to mobile version