Be sure to include your Mac OS X operating version number and Trash It!’s version number. Hack to the Past v3 Reverses the Finder’s New Folder & New Finder Window hotkeys. English operating systems only. Hack to the Past v2 10.6 and above. German operating systems only. Using the Trash Folder in Mac OS X Lion; Using the Trash Folder in Mac OS X Lion. The Trash is a special container on the Mac Dock where you put the icons you no longer want to hang around on your hard drive(s). Got four copies of Letter to the Editor re: Bird Waste Issue on your hard drive? Drag three of them to the Trash. The Trash is a special container in OS X Mavericks where you put the icons you no longer want to hang around on your hard drive(s). Got four copies of a document on your hard drive? Drag three of them to the Trash. Tired of tripping over old.pdf and.dmg files you’ve downloaded but. Trash X is a fully functional trashcan for Mac OS X. Extremely simple to use, it functions just like the classic Mac OS Trashcan - files and folders dropped on it are moved to the trash, and disks droppped on it are ejected. In addition, it also features numerous functions for the power user. You can use it to instantly delete or shred file and folders without sending them to the trash.
Are you looking for a reliable way to stop trash delete immediately without recyling deleted files into the Trash on Mac? If it's so, relax. On this page, you will learn how to restore lost files removed by Mac delete immediately feature using EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard, and how to turn off or stop delete immediately on Mac via Terminal command.
Q: How can I stop Trash deleting items immediately on Mac
'As of upgrading to macOS High Sierra, my trash folder deletes files immediately. Dragging files to Trash, it prompts the message 'Are you sure you want to delete xx? This item will be deleted immediately. You can't undo this action.' It seems that the Trash becomes unusable as it no longer saves the deleted files. How can I stop Mac from bypassing Trash and deleting items immediately?'
Don't worry. This article covers everything you want to know to stop Trash deleting files and recover lost data.
Workable Solutions | Step-by-step Troubleshooting |
---|---|
Fix 1. Recover unintentionally deleted files | Download EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac > select the location > scan...Full steps |
Fix 2. Stop Trash deleting files immediately | Step 1. Launch Application and go to Terminal. Step 2. At the command prompt, type: sudo rm -ri ~/.Trash and press return...Full steps |
Why does Mac Trash delete files immediately, not receiving deleted files
There are basically two reasons that cause Mac delete file immediately without saving to Trash.
1. Using Delete Immeidately feature on Mac
Trash It For Mac Os X 10.7
'Delete Immediately' is a handy feature for Mac users to get rid of a file or a folder from Mac right away without manually emptying the Trash. It skips the Trash function and just deletes the files. There are two ways to access and use Delete Immdeiately featre on Mac: 1). A quick access keystroke: Option + Command + Delete; 2). File Menu > Delete Immediately...
By using this feature, Mac users can remove and delete files instantly from Mac by skipping the Trash, making it faster than deleting files to Trash and emptying the Trash.
2. Trash file permission error
According to some official explanations, it's because the file permissions associated with Trash are out of whack, making it impossible for OS X or macOS to write new files to the Trash folder or move the items you want to delete into a temporary location. That's how you have to accept the truth that deleted files or folders will bypass the Trash and disappe instantaneously.
How to recover unintentionally deleted files not going to Mac Trash
Don't worry when you lost the quick access to retrieving deleted files from Trash on Mac as files were deleted immediately without going into the Trash. Yo can easily recover trash bin emptied files on Mac with EaseUS Mac data recovery software.
Regardless of your files getting deleted immediately from trash due to file permission issue or you used the keyboard shortcut 'Option + Command + Delete' or 'Delete Immediately' option from the file menu in Finder, EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac is a handy data recovery utility in this case to help you immediately scan and find the lost files.
Tutorial: How to recover files deleted immediately from Trash or Finder
Step 1. Select the location where your important data & files were deleted and click the 'Scan' button.
Step 2. The software will run both quick scan and deep scan and work hard to find as many deleted files as possible on the selected volume.
Step 3. The scan results will be displayed in the left pane. Just select the file(s) and click the 'Recover Now' button to get them back.
How to stop Mac Trash from deleting files immediately
If your files get deleted immediately on Mac by pressing Option + Command + Delete or 'Delete Immediately' option on the Mac menu, it's easy to stop this operation. Remember to move files to the Trash instead of using the quick access when you need to delete some files next time.
If the removed files were not saved to Mac Trash but deleted immediately due to file permission issue, the Terminal command prompt is a good way to solve the problem. You need to be very careful when entering a command in the guidance, a single mistake could delete other innocent files.
Tutorial: How to use Terminal to stop Trash deleting files immediately
Step 1. Launch Application and go to Terminal.
Step 2. At the command prompt, type: sudo rm -ri ~/.Trash and press return.
- If Terminal prompts and requries for your account's password, enter it and press return.
- Next you should be prompted to remove any files and folders in the .Trash folder, followed by the .Trash folder itself. Type yes and return at each prompt.
Step 3. Log out of your macOS or Mac OS X account and log back in.
After executing the commands in Terminal, the 'delete immediately' trash problem on Mac shall now be resolved, as Mac will create a new .Trash folder with the correct permissions.
Conclusion
This page explains why files get deleted immeidately without saving to Trash on Mac. There are two reasons: using 'Delete Immediately' feature with quick access on Mac, or Mac Trash file permission error.
To fix this issue, you can stop using the Delete Immediately quick access, or run Terminal command as introduced above. For the lost files deleted immeidately on Mac, EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac can help you out in only 3 simple steps.
FAQs about Mac Trash Delete
Some of you may have more questions about Mac Trash delete or recovery. If you are one of these Mac users, having similar or the same questions as listed here, check the answer and follow the guide to get rid of the problem from your Mac now:
1. How do I prevent files from being deleted immediately on Mac?
Besides deleting files with awareness, backup is the safest way to protect files/folders being wrongly deleted. It's worry-free and risk-free to backup files on Mac with Time Machine or third-party Mac backup software.
2. Why does my Mac trash delete immediately?
Usually, if you press Option + Command + Delete keys or use File > Delete Immeidately option in the Finder menu, Mac will directly delete files by skipping the Trash. The best way to avoid this issue is to stop using the access. Instead, you should drag files to the Trash and then empty them from the Trash when you are 100% for sure that you don't need these files again.
3. How do I stop my Trash from emptying on my Mac?
![Trash It For Mac Os X Trash It For Mac Os X](/uploads/1/2/4/8/124810902/514582279.png)
Mac Trash has a similar feature as Windows Recycle Bin which can be set to remove items from the Trash after 30 days.
If you happen to have enabled this feature, you can go to Finder > Prefernece > Advanced > Uncheck 'Remove items from the Trash after 20 days'. To prevent you delete the wrong files, you should also check 'Show warning before emptying the Trash' in Finder Prefence.
4. How do I recover deleted files after empty Trash?
Find Trash Mac Os X
If you happen to lose files after emptying Trash bin, you can use the effective solution introduced here to get emptied Trash data back on Mac without any obstacles. EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac will help you effortlessly get back files deleted from the Trash bin on Mac, also undo empty Trash Mac.
For more details, you may refer to How to Recover Deleted Files after Emptying Trash on Mac for help.
Until OS X El Capitan, it was an easy task to secure empty trash by right-clicking on the trash and pressing Command key to make ‘Empty Trash’ switch to ‘Secure Empty Trash’. However, the fun of securely eliminating deleted files is missing in OS X El Capitan like the way it was. Why did Apple choose to remove it from this version of OS X? And why it existed on below versions of OS X until now?
Secure Empty Trash – A problem?
Quite frankly yes, secure empty trash has been a problem especially for Solid State Drives & fusion drives that are the integration of SSDs & hard drives. Secure empty trash caused unnecessary wear and tear on solid-state drives. Hence Apple chooses to remove it from OS X El Capitan.
How Apple filled the Gap?
How did Apple fill the void in place of ‘Secure Empty Trash’ option? The answer is ‘Delete Immediately’ option, which arises when you right-click a file in the trash. See below example:
![Trash it for mac os x 10.13 Trash it for mac os x 10.13](/uploads/1/2/4/8/124810902/103040526.jpg)
Trash It For Mac Os X 10.8
Another very simple method of securely deleting file or group of files it to select the file(s) and press this key combination – CMD + OPTION + DELETE. This will give you below the message.
Be very sure to proceed with the DELETE button since the selected files will be wiped out from Mac hard drive. Hope you have installed a strict Mac hard drive backup utility to clone your Mac hard drives.
Why erase Mac files securely on OS X at first place?
Q) Why there exists a need for securely wiping files or securely erasing a hard drive on OS X Mac? Find below helpful answer.
A) Whenever the files are deleted (i.e. trash emptied), the OS X eliminates only the index entry of that file(s) and doesn’t remove them from the hard drive location. However, OS X does allow other files to overwrite the deleted files from its location. On running a data recovery application on Mac OS X El Capitan, the software scans the entire hard disk drive for deleted entries and recovers them upon locating them from their original drive addresses. Some users do not wish to get their files recovered after deletion, hence securely wiping Mac files and hard drives are recommended. Secure wiping Mac is the best practice before donating and selling Mac and/or its hard disk drive.
Do try: World’s only Mac data recovery & video/photo repair software
Secure erasure on OS X El Capitan
- Using third party Mac wiping tools
Mac hard drive wiping utilities are readily available for OS X El Capitan and below versions of OS X. These Mac wiping utilities are capable of securely wiping individual files, multiple files, folders, Internet and browsing activities, instant messaging, System traces and file history. Take a free tour of Stellar Mac Wipe utility to securely erase files and hard drives on El Capitan. This utility allows the creation of bootable DVD in order to secure wipe Macintosh HD (startup disk).
- Terminal
Whatsoever can’t be done with GUI on Mac, can be performed using Terminal.app since Terminal converts your command line inputs into output. Let’s understand those commands to secure erase files on OS X El Capitan:
rm – rP /path/to/file-or-folder
or
srm – rfv – s /path/to/file-or-folder
Trash It For Mac Os X 10.10
Where,
- rm – (file removal command, ‘r’ denotes recursive deletion)
- rP – (request for overwriting of the deleted file)
- srm – (request to secure removal of files)
- f – (force confirmation)
- v – (file information)
- Minus s – (single pass erase)
- if using Minus m – (seven pass erase)
- if using Minus z – (zeroes overwriting)
- Free space erase on Mac hard drive
Free space erasure option is removed from Mac’s Disk Utility but with the help of below command line, one can still perform free spaces erase on a given hard drive.
diskutil secureErase freespace LEVEL /Volumes/DRIVENAME
Replace LEVEL with (0 – 4), where 0 is a single pass of zeroes, 1 denotes single pass of random numbers, 2 denotes 7 passes, 3 denotes 35 passes and 4 indicates 3 passes erase. Please note that securely erasing free spaces is a time-consuming process.
Not everything is removed from OS X El Capitan
You can still securely wipe mounted hard disk drives and external hard drive with Disk Utility. Below is the process:
Empty Trash Mac Os X
Step 1: Make sure the hard drive is mounted in Disk Utility. In case of external hard drive make sure it is connected & mounted. From Disk Utility, select the hard drive from the left-hand pane.
Step 2: Click ‘Erase’ and again click on Security Options.
Step 3: You have to choose between Fastest and Most Secure methods of securely wiping the Mac hard disk drive. Click OK << Erase to start the process.
Editor’s Note
You cannot select Apple startup disk (Macintosh HD) for erasure until unless you boot up the Mac from another media and erase the startup hard drive securely with the help of a 3rd party Mac wiping utility. Hope that Apple’s decision to remove the secure empty trash will not bother you much since there still exists various tricks to achieve secure wiping of files from Mac OS X.
Alsoread: How to recover permanently trashed files formats.