Can't delete a file (error code -50) and the external drive won't eject because of it.

Running Mojave on my MacBook. An empty file was on my Passport external drive, and I moved it to the trash. I can't empty the trash or move the file. Force empty trash (Option key) doesn't work. I tried to move the file to the desktop and it just copied, leaving the troublesome file in the trash. Nothing will transfer to the Passport drive now and I also can't eject it.

MacBook Pro 15", macOS 10.14

Posted on May 16, 2019 7:54 AM

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Posted on May 16, 2019 9:05 AM

Boot into Safe Mode and try deleting from there.

NOTE: Safe Mode boot can take up to 10 minutes as it's doing some system cache cleaning, volume verifying and directory repairing.

Then reboot normally.


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Can't delete a file (error code -50) and the external drive won't eject because of it.

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