If that particular space is needed to save new data, the old files, which were supposedly deleted, will be overwritten. When a file is deleted, the operating system tags its storage space as being available for use. After some time, the deleted data will eventually be written over with new data. It has not been deleted but has been marked for reuse by OS X or macOS. However, the data on your physical drive is still there and could potentially be recovered when you use third-party software. You’ll notice that the space occupied by the files on the Trash is recovered. When you delete the Trash on your Mac, all the files in there will be gone. When You Empty the Trash on a Mac, Is It Gone? When you drop data into the trash icon to empty it, the popup box comes up normally, prompting if you are sure and you get an active option to click ‘Continue.’ But once in the trash bin, the emptying process seems to be taking forever. The confusing part is that your Mac seemingly works well. If you have experienced a slow-running Mac, you have surely typed: “why emptying trash is slow on my Mac” in your Safari search bar. About Outbyte, uninstall instructions, EULA, Privacy Policy. If emptying your Trash takes a very long time or gets stuck, there must be something wrong somewhere.

But it shouldn’t take more than five minutes or an hour, just like other Mac users are complaining of. That’s when your system starts purging all the files you dragged to the Trash folder.Įmptying trash usually takes just a couple of seconds, depending on how many files you need to delete. To completely delete your files, you need to right-click on the Trash icon on the Dock, then choose Empty Trash. It’s just like moving your files to a different folder, so dragging any file to the Trash usually does not cause any problem. Take note that dragging any file to the Trash does not really delete them. It can get so bad such that, even when you drop just one simple picture into the trash bin, then empty the trash, it takes ‘forever’ to carry out the command. The speed of a good Mac is almost always instant.īut when your Mac starts slowing down, the reduction in speed is easily noticeable. If your Mac is in an excellent condition, you expect it to follow any commands promptly.

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