Unlike HDDs, where secure file deletion works, it doesn’t with the SSDs because overwriting a file only creates a new one in a new location but doesn’t overwrite the old file’s contents. If you have an older Mac, it probably has a regular HDD, but the newer models with the SSDs allow you to use the standard method of moving files and emptying the trash to erase files, compared to securely erasing the files. That is a critical factor when it comes to securely delete files on your Mac because you won’t have to do so if it comes with an SSD. Most new Macs come with the solid state drives (flash storage) or Fusion Drives for some iMacs, instead of the old spinning hard disk drives. Can My Files Be Retrieved Once I Delete Themĭata recovery technology has made it possible to recover files and restore them, which means someone else can retrieve any files you delete from a hard drive. ![]() The good news is you can permanently delete files from your Mac using several methods that we’ll show you in this guide. The last thing you want is to see that your data was leaked by some hacker, leaving you vulnerable and without a clue of what to do next. Perhaps your Mac is too old to take the next operating system version, or you’ve stored a lot of data on it, and you’re worried that it could be hijacked if stolen. Using sudo requires the administrator password but combined with rm it will absolutely forcibly remove any file regardless of whats going on with it.Wouldn’t you love to rid of some or all files on your Mac forever. This is intentionally not spelled out easily to try and prevent any novice users from accidentally deleting something significant. 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. Now you can try emptying the Trash as usual through the Dock, or go the rm route mentioned below.Īdvanced: Forcibly Emptying the Trash via Command Line 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 If that doesn’t work, proceed with the methods outlined below.Ĭhange Permissions To Forcibly Empty Trash ![]() We will cover two different approaches to this, the first changes a files flags to attempt to unlock the file in question, and the second is a no-nonsense force delete.įirst: 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. The most common variations of the errors are usually “Operation cannot be completed because the item “File” is in use” or “because the file is locked”, sometimes you can get around this by just quitting open applications or rebooting the Mac, but if you don’t want to do either you can also forcibly remove files through the command line. Mac OS X can sometimes throw permissions errors when trying to delete files or empty the Trash.
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