How to empty the Trash on Mac

What emptying the Trash actually does

Moving a file to the Trash doesn’t delete it. It moves it into a folder, and the file goes on taking up exactly as much space as before — which is why a disk that was nearly full often stays nearly full after a big clear-out. Until the Trash is emptied, you can open it from the Dock, select an item and choose File → Put Back to send it back to the folder it came from.

Emptying the Trash is the step that deletes. Finder has no undo for it. If you back up with Time Machine, a file that was in a backup can be restored from there; otherwise, treat Empty Trash as final and look through the Trash first if you’re not sure what’s in it.

Every disk has its own Trash. Files you delete from an external drive or a USB stick stay on that drive, in a hidden folder, and show in your Trash only while the drive is connected. Empty the Trash with the drive plugged in and they’re deleted; unplug it first and they’re still on the drive, using its space.

Every way to empty the Trash

With the keyboard. In Finder, press ⇧⌘⌫ (Shift-Command-Delete), or choose Finder → Empty Trash. macOS asks you to confirm. Add the Option key — ⌥⇧⌘⌫ — and it empties without asking.

From the Dock. Control-click the Trash icon, or click and hold it, and choose Empty Trash.

From the Trash window. Click the Trash in the Dock to open it, then click the Empty button in the window. This is the way to check what’s there before it goes.

Only some of it. In the Trash window, select the items you want gone, Control-click them and choose Delete Immediately. Everything else stays in the Trash.

One file, without the Trash at all. Select it in Finder and press ⌥⌘⌫ (Option-Command-Delete), or hold Option and choose File → Delete Immediately. macOS warns you first, and there’s no Put Back afterwards.

Automatically. In Finder → Settings → Advanced, turn on “Remove items from the Trash after 30 days”. Anything that has sat in the Trash for a month is deleted on its own, and the recent things you might still want back are kept. System Settings → General → Storage offers the same setting among its recommendations, as Empty Trash Automatically.

Without the warning. The same Advanced tab has “Show warning before emptying the Trash”. Turn it off if you always say yes anyway.

When the Trash won’t empty

Almost always, an item won’t go because something still has hold of it. macOS says the operation can’t be completed because the item is in use, and sometimes names the app.

It’s open in an app. A document that’s still open, a video still playing in a player, an app you dragged to the Trash while it was running. Close the file or quit the app, then empty the Trash again. Terminal’s lsof command, followed by the item’s path, lists which app has a file open when macOS doesn’t say.

It’s locked. A locked file stays put. Select it in the Trash, choose File → Get Info (⌘I) and untick Locked, then empty again.

You don’t have permission. Files that belong to another user account, or that came from another Mac or an old backup, can be protected. Get Info shows who may read and write the file under Sharing & Permissions, and macOS may ask for an administrator’s name and password to delete it.

It’s on a drive that isn’t connected. Items deleted from an external drive can only be emptied while that drive is plugged in. Connect it, empty the Trash, then eject the drive before you unplug it.

Nothing admits to holding it. Restart the Mac and empty the Trash before you open anything else. If it still won’t go, start up in safe mode, which loads only what macOS needs, empty the Trash there, and restart normally.

Emptied the Trash, and the disk is still full

A few things keep deleted files around after the Trash itself is empty, or keep space from showing as free straight away.

Apps with their own bin. Photos keeps deleted photos in its Recently Deleted album for about a month, Mail has its own Trash mailbox, and Notes has a Recently Deleted folder. Emptying Finder’s Trash doesn’t touch any of them; each is emptied in its own app.

iCloud Drive. Files deleted from iCloud Drive can be recovered from iCloud.com for 30 days. That uses your iCloud storage, not your Mac’s disk, and it’s separate from the Trash on your Mac: emptying one doesn’t empty the other.

Space that takes a while to come back. On a Mac that backs up with Time Machine, local snapshots can keep the space a deleted file used for a while after it’s gone, and macOS releases it as space is needed. Give it time before deleting more.

Downloads you already used. Disk images are a common culprit: every .dmg you install an app from stays in Downloads until you delete it. Install from a .dmg in one click and the .dmg is moved to the Trash for you — which then just needs emptying.

Is emptying the Trash secure?

Older versions of macOS had a Secure Empty Trash command that overwrote files as it deleted them. Apple removed it in OS X El Capitan, and on the flash storage in today’s Macs overwriting a file isn’t a dependable way to wipe it anyway.

What protects deleted files now is FileVault, which encrypts everything on the startup disk, deleted data included, so nobody without your password or recovery key can read it. You can check it’s on, or turn it on, in System Settings → Privacy & Security → FileVault.

Emptying the Trash from the menu bar with MacFixes

MacFixes’ Quick toggles put Empty Trash in the menu bar panel, next to three other things macOS buries: eject every disk at once, switch dark mode and hide the desktop icons. Open the panel and click, from whatever app you’re in, without going to Finder or finding the Trash in the Dock.

However you empty it, a file macOS won’t delete — one that’s in use, or locked — has to be freed first, as described above. Some toggles ask for Automation permission the first time you use them; the section below says what that permission allows.

Permissions, and turning it off

More fixes macOS doesn’t give you

One of 47 fixes and 10 apps in MacFixes. Every fix · Every app · Something else your Mac won’t do? Request it.