Trying to empty trash in Mac, especially when you run out of space on a hard drive can be a task. Moreover, to be able to install new apps and programs or download some important files you’ll need to free a few gigabytes. With Mac, you can enable Empty Trash Automatically setting to permanently delete files that have been residing inside Mac’s trash for longer than 30 days.
Empty trash in Mac automatically after 30 days
When you enable the Empty Trash Automatically setting in Mac, you no longer need to find old or space-hogging files and delete them. Your system will automatically find them and dump all duplicate Safari downloads, cache files, logs, and other unneeded files. Use this power tip to Empty trash in Mac automatically.
- On your Mac, go to the Finder menu.
- Click it and select the Preferences option.
- Switch to the Advanced tab.
- Check the Remove items from the Trash after 30 days box.
- Close the Finder Preferences window.
Please note – For this method to work, your Mac should be running macOS Sierra or later.
How to empty Trash on Mac fast?
As mentioned earlier, if you are running macOS Sierra or later, go to the Finder menu in the upper-left corner of your Macbook screen and click to open it.
From the list of options displayed therein, choose the Preferences option.
Next, when the Finder Preferences window opens, switch to the Advanced tab. Here, scroll down to Remove items from the Trash after 30 days entry and check the box marked against it.
Why can’t I empty the Trash on my Mac?
In many cases, the files you’re trying to delete may be locked. So, you can’t empty the trash. Try to force-delete them. Press and hold the Option key while you hit the Empty button. Holding the Option key lets your Mac bypass any lock enabled for files.
Can you recover empty trash on Mac?
Yes! When you empty Trash in Mac the usual way, it doesn’t remove your files completely but simply hides them. As such, they can be made available for overwriting, whenever required. However, if the files are deleted using the Secure Empty Trash option it will be virtually impossible to recover or access them as this erased data will be encrypted, making it meaningless.
Is there a shortcut to empty Trash on Mac?
Yes, pressing the Shift-Command-Delete ( ⇧ – ⌘ – Del) empties the Trash. Another way is to use Terminal utility. Launch the Terminal utility and enter the following command – sudo rm -R and press Space key. This command will force delete files and empty trash on Mac. However, use this method as your troubleshooting step in extreme emergency situations only.
Hope that makes sense!
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