# Slow to Empty Trash



## Hughvane (Apr 5, 2008)

G4 eMac 1.25, OS 10.4.11

My eMac HD has less than 10 Gb capacity remaining. I have started the process of moving seldom or un-used applications to an external hard drive (which is working just fine) and then deleting permanently the duplicate applications from the eMac HD.

I have used both AppCleaner and CleanApp to facilitate the transfer of Library and other 'hidden' or hard-to-find application files to Trash.

The deleting process is taking an inordinate amount of time, especially of the applications related to Apple (eg. Automator). I can hear the HD chattering and grinding away, but the progress bar in Secure Empty Trash remains static, even after a period of 30 - 60 minutes.

I have tried Permanent Eraser as an alternative. It works well with some applications but encounters the same hold-up with others.

I've tried putting Trash contents into a d'top folder and then transferring + deleting items one-by-one but this works only with smaller files.

Suggestions? Workaround? Am I doing something wrong?

PS. No wonder Methusela lived to a great age, he was waiting for the deleting process on a Mac to finish!


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## artov (Apr 6, 2008)

One stupid question: When you moved the programs to the other disk, did you reboot before moving the program to Trash? It might be, that you still were using the program (more likely so if they are part of the system), so the files cannot be deleted before you stop using them.


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## Hughvane (Apr 6, 2008)

artov said:


> One stupid question: When you moved the programs to the other disk, did you reboot before moving the program to Trash?



No, and to answer the second part of your suggestion, any apps being transferred are inactive. MacOS warns the user that something cannot be deleted because it is in use.

Advice from another source tells me _not_ to use Secure Empty Trash, but just Empty Trash. It is certainly much quicker, but as we know, it doesn't actually remove the app, simply removes the pathway to it until it's overwritten at a later time.

Thanks


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## Mikuro (Apr 7, 2008)

Yes, Secure Empty Trash is naturally very slow, and I've also noticed the progress report to be quirky with it. Furthermore, when dealing with applications the empty trash (secure or not) progress bar can be especially quirky, because each application is really a folder full of many separate files, but the progress bar will treat it as just one file &#8212; it will only advance when every part of the application has been erased. This can lead to long gaps between changes in the progress bar, since it will really be deleting hundreds of files, not just one.

I agree that you shouldn't use Secure Empty Trash for very much. If you have any particularly sensitive files, use it for those, but only for those. Applications are quite large, and shouldn't have any personal data in them at all, so I don't see any reason to use Secure Emtpy Trash for them. It will take much too long and put unnecessary stress on your HD.


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## Giaguara (Apr 7, 2008)

If you are 200 % sure that you know what you are deleting, you could get them faster removed with *rm *in terminal. But that can never have enough precaution since a typo, including one space too much, can delete everything. But if used correctly, rm removes the files immediately and the space is back staright away. Just make sure you have a backup though, just in case.


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## DeltaMac (Nov 6, 2017)

Your trash only exists on the external drive.
Quickest fix would be to eject that drive, restart in safe mode, then mount the drive again. The trash should empty as quickly as the file system will do it.
Keep in mind that lots of small files will extend the time --- but the safe-boot restart should make emptying the trash mostly painless.
Sorry that you had to purchase the third-party software, but it sounds like you have developed a justification for that software after using it for "many years"
I have never felt that need for buying software that enhances what the system already does --- but, I hear that CMM is mostly a safe app, and apparently does what you want. (Maybe it was interfering with a more normal system response - so you might consider removing that app, eh?


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