How to empty the Trash on Mac, and get the space back.

How to empty the Trash on Mac

1. Open the Trash. Click the Trash icon at the right end of the Dock. It looks full when there's something in it.
2. Look before you empty. Everything in this window will be deleted for good. To keep something, select it and choose File › Put Back, which returns it to where it was.
3. Click Empty. It's in the top-right corner of the window. macOS asks you to confirm.

Two faster ways do the same thing: Control-click the Trash in the Dock and choose Empty Trash, or press Shift-Command-Delete in Finder. Add Option, Option-Shift-Command-Delete, to skip the confirmation.

To delete one item without emptying everything, open the Trash, Control-click the item, and choose Delete Immediately.

Where is the Trash on a Mac?

In the Dock, at the right end, or at the bottom if your Dock sits on the side of the screen. It can't be removed from the Dock.

The files themselves live in a hidden folder in your home folder, ~/.Trash. Each external drive keeps its own Trash too, in a hidden folder at the top of the drive, so files you delete from a USB drive still take space on that drive until you empty the Trash. On the Mac this guide was written on, Terminal got “Operation not permitted” trying to read ~/.Trash: macOS guards it, so use Finder rather than Terminal.

Empty the Trash automatically

macOS can delete anything that's been in the Trash for 30 days, so it never fills up quietly:

1. Open Finder settings. In Finder, choose Finder › Settings, then click Advanced.
2. Turn it on. Select Remove items from the Trash after 30 days.

Storage settings offers the same thing as Empty Trash Automatically, under Recommendations in System Settings › General › Storage. Either way, you still have 30 days to change your mind about anything you delete.

When the Trash won't empty

• “The operation can't be completed because the item is in use.” An app still has the file open. Quit the app it belongs to and try again. If you can't tell which one, restart and empty the Trash first thing.
• A locked file. Select it in the Trash, choose File › Get Info, and turn off Locked.
• You don't have permission. The file belongs to another user or to the system. In File › Get Info, open Sharing & Permissions, click the lock, and give yourself Read & Write.
• An external drive. Its Trash only empties while it's connected. Plug it back in, then empty the Trash.

Emptied the Trash, and still no space?

Emptying the Trash deletes the files, but two things can keep the space from showing up right away:

• Local Time Machine snapshots. If Time Machine is on, macOS keeps snapshots of your disk, and a snapshot holds onto files that existed when it was taken. The space comes back when the snapshot is removed. How to delete local snapshots shows how to see them and remove them.
• Purgeable space. Finder counts space macOS can free on demand as available, so the number can look the same before and after. Purgeable space, explained.

Other apps keep their own trash too. Photos keeps deleted photos in Recently Deleted for 30 days, and Mail keeps deleted messages in its Trash mailbox. Emptying the Finder Trash doesn't touch either one.