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I get an error 50 message when trying to delete an empty folder from my iMac trash.
I have tried re-naming the folder and restarting the iMac in safe mode but still it does not work.
This is annoying although not taking up any memory but what more can I try?
Empty and recreate an account's Trash
The following procedure will "kill two birds with one stone." It will both:
Perform the following steps in the order specified:
1.
If the affected account is protected by FileVault, log in to the affected account, then switch to and log in to your Admin account via Fast User Switching. Otherwise, log in to your Admin account.
2.
Open Terminal, located in the Macintosh HD > Applications > Utilities folder.
3.
At the Terminal prompt, type one of the following commands:
If the affected account is:
Then type the Terminal command:
Your Admin account:
sudo rm -ri ~/.Trash
Another user account:
sudo rm -ri /Users/user_name/.Trash
where user_name is the short name of the affected account.
Note that:
4.
Press Return.
5.
Type your Admin password when prompted, then press Return.
6.
Type y for yes in response to the subsequent prompts to delete each file in the trash and finally the affected .Trash folder itself. The prompts are finished when the Terminal prompt returns.
7.
If the affected account is your Admin account, log out. If the affected account was another user account that is logged in via Fast User Switching, log out of that account.
8.
Log in to the affected account. It will now have a new, working, and empty Trash.
Steps 1-6 remove all files in the affected account's Trash as well as deleting the hidden and invisible ~/.Trash directory for that account. The remaining steps result in recreating the affected account's Trash, with proper ownership and permissions.
It may be what I call a "zombie folder" for lack of a better description.
There are plenty of additional suggestions that may help. First please identify your Mac's operating system so that you can determine whether it's possible to boot "single user mode".
Find out which macOS your Mac is using - Apple Support
Then, review Impossible to delete file - Catalina - Apple Community. Study it with care despite the fact it's long and convoluted. Unfortunately its OP never returned with a resolution.
Attempting to delete it in Safe Mode was a good first step.
iMac will not delete folder from trash
