Trash It Tips & Tricks:
Sometimes even Trash It can’t get rid of a stubborn file or folder. In those cases, try these tips below gathered from users and from around the web.
Tip 1. Start from scratch. You have a file in the trash and it’s locked and Trash It! can’t delete it. Try creating a new folder, moving the new folder to the trash, and moving the offending files/folders into this new empty folder. Then run Trash It!
Tip 2. Try, try again. If that doesn’t work, take the stuck item out of the trash. Then drag and drop it onto the Trash It! icon. Make sure it’s out of the trash first. You may need to put it into a new folder first before the System will let you take it out of the trash.
Tip 3. Restart And Try Again. Sometimes the file(s) you are trying to delete may be in use by an application or the system. An easy way to fix this is to simply restart your computer and run Trash It! again.
Tip 4. Restart in “Safe Mode”. Restart your Mac in “safe mode” by holding the Shift key after you hear the chime. This will disable any startup or login items. Try to empty the Trash again with Trash It!. Restart your Mac but don’t hold down any keys.
See more Installation and Usage on our How-to page and in the Instructions file (enclosed in the zip file).
BLANK PASSWORDS: If your password is blank, i.e., you have NO password, Trash It! will not work on your system if you’re using 10.6.x or lower. Trash It! uses the BSD Subsystem and a blank password will not be accepted on earlier OS X versions.
To get around this issue (It’s an Apple thing), CLOSE all open applications, go into your System Preferences > Users and Groups and change your password to something other than nothing. Run Trash It!, and when finished, go back into Users and Groups, and set your password back to nothing.
Persons using Yosemite or higher don’t have this issue. Persons using Snow Leopard (10.6.x) will not be able to use Trash It! with a blank password.
If you are in any way connected to the Internet and are using a blank password, you are opening your entire system up to hackers trying to gain access.
It is highly recommended you have a password, even if it’s a single letter. Do NOT use a space as a password or have spaces in your password.
Special thanks to all my beta testers, and especially Martin, who helped me iron out a few bugs!
