Empty trash mac terminal password#

Using sudo requires the administrator password but combined with rm it will absolutely forcibly remove any file regardless of whats going on with it. Then, without pressing enter yet, we open the trash to. The most common case is where you try to empty your trash and you get a pop up that says something to the effect of 'file XYZ is in use and can not be deleted.' The file probably is in use somehow, but if you want to blow through that message, enter this command in the Terminal app (Applications > Utilities): sudo rm -rf /. Type in 'csrutil disable' and press 'Enter' in the 'Terminal' window, then restart your Mac. When you see a pop-up screen of 'OS X Utilities' on the Mac, you can click 'Utilites' > 'Terminal' on the top menu bar. This is intentionally not spelled out easily to try and prevent any novice users from accidentally deleting something significant. Note that a blank space must be added after nouchgOn the command line so that it ends in Nouchg. Reboot the Mac and hold donw 'Command+R' at the same time after you hear the startup chime. If that still doesn’t work you can try the ultimate delete approach using sudo and -rf *. Have backups ready or don’t bother with this method, proceed at your own risk.Ĭonfirm you are in the proper directory and the only files you see are the ones you want to forcibly remove by using ls: If you don’t know what you’re doing you could easily delete crucial system or personal files. Make sure the syntax is correct with this, the “sudo rm -rf” command will erase anything without warning. This is a last resort and intended only for advanced users. Advanced: Forcibly Emptying the Trash via Command Line Now you can try emptying the Trash as usual through the Dock, a keyboard shortcut to dump the file, or go the rm route mentioned below. From the Select Location screen, select Macintosh HD, the startup disk, wherein the Trash folder is present. Launch Terminal found in /Applications/Utilities/ and then proceed: The first approach uses the chflags command to change the flags of all files in the Trash

Change Permissions To Forcibly Empty Trash Some users have also reported Command+Shift+Option+Delete to work as a method of forcing the Trash to empty regardless of a file being locked or owned by another user. If that doesn’t work, proceed with the methods outlined below. First: Try quitting all apps to release the file lock or permissions, then attempt to Secure Empty Trash by holding down the Command key and right-clicking the Trash icon.

Empty trash mac terminal