Questions tagged [deleting]
the destruction of a document, or file. Often, on the most common operating system, the file is compressed, and moved to a folder - dubbed "Trash" on OSX. The file must then be permanently deleted, before all remnants of the file are truly destroyed.
338
questions
2
votes
2
answers
35
views
How to delete photo from Album and Library at the same time?
I am using MacOS BigSur / Photos 6.0
I have photos in the Album that I want to delete completely from everywhere.
If I delete it found in the Album, it still keeps the photo in the Library, so in ...
- 121
0
votes
0
answers
66
views
Can't delete read-only file on Mac after disabling SIP
I want to have different versions of ruby, i am using asdf for it. So, i have installed some different versions of ruby, but i can not switch their, because(maybe) i have /usr/bin/ruby
d@mac ~ % asdf ...
0
votes
0
answers
35
views
Struggling to recover space after backup deletion on older system
My 2TB external drive (seagate SRD00F2) is refusing to recover space after deleting backups. I've tried a number of things, hoping to find help here, TYIA. The older backups were not deleting ...
2
votes
0
answers
134
views
How can I remove files while in Recovery Mode?
The problem I have is to do with having a full disk and not being able to complete the reboot.
I can get to running diskutil list on Terminal. However then I can get nowhere else and I can not get ...
- 21
0
votes
0
answers
13
views
How to delete an uploaded youtube video from iPad but keep in the cloud?
I've uploaded a few videos directly from my iPad to YouTube. But now I'm running out of space on the iPad because the YouTube app is holding on to the videos and would like to reclaim some back by ...
- 101
0
votes
1
answer
65
views
Impossibly large file in trash that I cannot delete
I have a 2019 Intel Macbook Pro on the Monterey 12.1 Beta (21C5039b), and there's a file in my trash that I suspect has been causing me some problems. Its listed size in Finder is 8.32 EB (yes, that's ...
- 1
2
votes
1
answer
80
views
How to remove a keyboard shortcut in System Preferences?
New to MacBook Pro 2019 (with current OS)
As I am tweaking the hotkeys for my Windows brain, there have been several times I added a key to an entry in System Prefs->Keyboard->Shortcuts but no ...
0
votes
0
answers
47
views
Is there any way to find out the date and time of the deletion of a permanently deleted photo from iPhone?
Is there any (theoretical) way to find out the date and time of the deletion of a permanently deleted photo (or video) from iPhone with iOS 15 installed? Does phone's operating system store such data?
- 51
1
vote
0
answers
16
views
When using rsync to sync a sparsebundle are --delete and -X for extended attributes options recommended?
I have scripts that rsync Time Machine sparsebundles to a remote server for offsite backups. I've always assumed that extended attributes are a function of the internal image filesystem and not the ...
- 11
0
votes
1
answer
53
views
Would a user-wiped iPhone 11 still have 200k+ system files and database entries on it?
Would a factory reset iPhone 11 Pro Max still have hundreds of thousands of files and database entries on it?
For clarity, when I say "factory reset," I mean a user-initiated reset via ...
-1
votes
1
answer
209
views
How can I delete the files in /System/Volumes/VM?
Just as an experiment/exercise, I tried deleting the swap files in /System/Volumes/VM but no matter what I did, it was prevented.
sudo rm - operation not permitted
sudo xattr - didn't return anything
...
- 347
0
votes
0
answers
145
views
Can't delete “.sass-cache” because its pathname is too long
I get the error Can't delete “.sass-cache” because its pathname is too long. when I try to empty my bin.
sudo rm -rvf ~/.Trash/* doesn't work, it returns zsh: no matches found: /Users/cmiksche/.Trash/...
1
vote
0
answers
28
views
Can't delete corrupted .png.icloud in MacBook Pro M1
Recently one of my friends sent me some screenshot files from WhatsApp and I downloaded it to my MacBook, those files were screenshot.png.icloud files. Once they are on my downloads folder, I can't ...
4
votes
2
answers
869
views
Forward-delete with Logitech K380 keyboard on macOS
I am using a Logitech K380 keyboard with my MacBook Pro (13-inch, M1, 2020) running macOS Big Sur 11.6.
When I hold down the Function (fn) key while pressing the delete key on the built-in keyboard of ...
- 10.1k
1
vote
0
answers
19
views
Lost Whatsapp messages forever?
Regrettably I think I already know the answer to this question, but I thought it good to check just in case!
I deleted and reinstalled Whatsapp, but for some reason unknown to me iCloud hadn't taken a ...
- 11
1
vote
1
answer
273
views
Why does deleting an iCloud photo on my Mac not delete it from my iPhone?
I have turned on iCloud Photos sync. When I remove a photo on the Mac, I can see that it’s also deleted from iCloud on the web. I would like it to disappear on my iPhone as well, but it’s still there.
...
- 121
0
votes
1
answer
97
views
hidden files named "Icon?" on my macbook pro cannot be removed [duplicate]
In some of the folders, there is a hidden file Icon? (filesize 1.3MB; not icon of file, but filename being Icon?). Once I rename or remove it, it appears immediately again.
What created these Icon? ...
- 133
2
votes
1
answer
156
views
How do i delete remnant build product of Xcode project?
I tried to make a widget on Xcode for macOS big sur.
The widget was meant to display the battery level of a bluetooth device connected to my macbook.
I gave up and deleted the project file but this is ...
- 23
2
votes
1
answer
149
views
Terminal command to delete unnecessary logs
Avast antivirus says that my mac running Mojave has 1.25 GB of "unnecessary logs":
The Avast website does not provide information about their meaning.
What are they? How can I delete them ...
- 895
2
votes
3
answers
229
views
How can I force my Mac to delete my trash which contains deeply nested locked folders?
I have hundreds of gigabytes of files that I manually (tried) to delete from an external hard drive. However I can't empty my trash, and no space has freed up on the drive.
When I try to empty my ...
- 119
0
votes
0
answers
48
views
How do I delete files on user login?
I'm trying to set up a custom user that deletes files and folders in the home directories (Desktop, Documents, Downloads, Music, Movies and Pictures) when a user logs in/logs out, similar to how the ...
0
votes
1
answer
813
views
Can’t delete "com.avira.scanservice.systemextension" leftover from AVIRA Free Antivirus
I uninstalled AVIRA Free Antivirus program (under current Catalina macOS), but one file "com.avira.scanservice.systemextension" couldn't be deleted because I don’t have the necessary rights.
...
- 55
13
votes
1
answer
3k
views
How to view and delete Mac download history
Yesterday I was told that every computer keeps track of everything you have ever downloaded.
My computer is a 2014 iMac that is running macOS v10.13 (High Sierra), so I went to apple.com and tried to ...
- 133
0
votes
1
answer
61
views
Will Reset > Delete Data and Settings, prevent recovering my Data? if I am planning to sell my iPhone?
In Windows I know that when you delete a file or even format your PC, then some data can still be recovered from the hard disk using some tools.
Now I have iPhone 11 and I am planning to sell it. So I ...
- 113
0
votes
0
answers
1k
views
How to delete a macOS installer from Big Sur?
I downloaded the Mojave installer from my Big Sur machine to create a USB installer for an old Mac Mini.
I then deleted the installer from the Applications folder, but now whenever I try to empty the ...
- 545
1
vote
0
answers
2k
views
Can I delete files from my dyld folder?
I have a 13-inch Early 2015 MacBook Air (OS 11.2.5) with 128 GB, and I'm trying to clear some space for a game I want to install. So far, I've transferred my school assignment files into my external ...
- 11
2
votes
1
answer
347
views
How to delete a file with prefix `~$`
I use the command ls in a terminal. I found this wired file with the prefix ~$.
When I was trying to remove it, the terminal responded No such file or directory.
I even tried renaming it, but it ...
- 121
1
vote
1
answer
26
views
Ensure emptying 'Recently Deleted' succeeds?
I have deleted ~25,000 photos and videos from iPhone. They're now in 'Recently Deleted', and I want them permanently gone so I can transfer the remaining contents of the iPhone to a new iPhone.
When I ...
- 2,957
2
votes
5
answers
2k
views
Folder won't delete from Trash for "Can't delete "_ImageItems" because its pathname is too long"
I'm trying to empty my trash on my iMac. When I do, I can detete everything but 1 folder. The one folder seems to reference itself infinitely. Each time I click on the expander chevron, I get ...
- 121
1
vote
1
answer
371
views
How to delete all voice memos stored on iphone in one go?
The Voice Memo app makes deleting several/all memos rather cumbersome as there doesn't seem to be an option to select all at once. SO how to delete all voice memos stored on my iPhone in one go?
1
vote
2
answers
111
views
How to remove an app on iOS without overhead?
Problem
I tried to remove an app from Settings -> iPhone Storage, but after each installation/un-installation cycle about 100-200mb adds up to disk space (example: after 10 cycles about 2GB might ...
- 11
2
votes
0
answers
737
views
How to completely remove/uninstall “Disabled Software” from MacOS System Report when a provided uninstall tools + CleanMyMac etc or do not work?
I am having this problem for 5 straight days and tried everything mentioned in various forums without any success (on Catalina 10.15.7). Some help please as I need to completely uninstall/remove this ...
- 21
1
vote
1
answer
125
views
Why is there no "Restore" or "put back" button in my trash?
There is no restore option when I right click a folder in my trash. Did I do something wrong with my computer to cause it to do away with this option?
- 11
1
vote
1
answer
113
views
Admin authentication not working on Big Sur
Anything that I am trying to do that requires admin user access is failing. Whether it be moving an app to the trash or making a change to settings (app settings or system settings) it isn't working. ...
- 11
0
votes
0
answers
626
views
How can I delete folders in /Library/Updates?
I've recently, through DiskDrill found that 18GB of my Macbook Air storage is being taken up by update folder in /Library/Updates. I tried to get rid of them by running various Terminal commands
rm -...
- 11
2
votes
1
answer
91
views
What are the implications of deleting all content of /usr/local?
After many days trying to solve a problem related to the installation of the R package 'rstan' I came to a possible solution that requires "Delete all of /usr/local/. Reinstall all developer ...
- 23
1
vote
1
answer
148
views
How to delete directory ~/Pictures?
This is on MacOS Catalina, but the same behavior has been observed in prior versions of MacOS.
Similar questions have been asked for other default directories in the default home directory, but this ...
- 113
0
votes
1
answer
56
views
Find all "Other" Files
How do I find any and all delete-able files on my Mac that are classified as other? My brother installed games on my computer, and even after clearing out "Downloads" and deleting the game ...
- 559
0
votes
0
answers
30
views
Unable to delete a folder to disable drag and drop, during screen-sharing
This answer claims
You can just remove Screen Sharing server's helper tools from here:
/System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/screensharingd.bundle/Contents/Support/
Quick check didn't show ...
4
votes
1
answer
51
views
Having painstakingly deleted hundreds of unwanted photos, dare I re-sync another Mac to iCloud that still has many of the deleted ones?
I have already deleted hundreds of photos in iCloud, and this works fine on my iPhone and Macbook.
However, I also have an IMac which WAS synced to the other machines up till 2017. This means in Photo ...
- 41
0
votes
1
answer
44
views
Wipe iPhone data
Is it possible to completely wipe out iPhone data using dd tool? Something like this?
sudo dd if=/dev/random of=/...
- 1
-1
votes
1
answer
89
views
Can't remove Parallels.app on macOS Catalina
So I am trying to completely remove Parallels without having to wipe my drive. I found every hidden file all deleted fine except this one that has become a nuisance.
The app is located in:
/Library/...
- 1
0
votes
0
answers
40
views
Disk Utility Cannot Erase the hard disk
I just want to erase everything so I can sell this laptop.
My thought was to come to Disk Util and do an erase.
But when I choose these settings, the operation keeps failing. Some Apple articles were ...
- 101
3
votes
0
answers
54
views
Automatic removal of items from the trash after 30 days
Since Sierra, we can tell the Finder to remove items from the trash after 30 days. I have some questions about this:
How can I tell how many days are left for a given file in the Trash?
Where is ...
- 6,466
1
vote
2
answers
3k
views
How to delete old and stuck local time machine snapshot from one year ago
I have an old and stuck local time machine snapshot or directory (probably from Mac OS 10.14/Mojave/2018) that seems impossible to delete (now on Mac OS 10.15/Catalina/2019).
The directory is empty (0 ...
- 21
0
votes
0
answers
140
views
How can I prevent Garageband from removing downloaded sound library installation files after installation?
Garageband will download full sound library when requested, install them, and then delete the installation file/package. Sometimes, I want to be able to install those again without having to download ...
- 1,733
1
vote
0
answers
32
views
How to delete empty deleted user home folder? [duplicate]
I have a deleted user home folder in the "Users" folder that does not contain anything and cannot be deleted. Can anybody suggest any ideas?
- 11
0
votes
1
answer
54
views
Lost Permissions Can't Delete Folder
I accidentally ran a PHP script that creates a directory with permissions 0777 and I am now unable to delete this directory. Any help to delete it would be appreciated, I have inserted a picture of ...
0
votes
1
answer
140
views
Suppress "Are you sure you want to delete..." dialogue when deleting items on SMB shares
When connected to an SMB share in Finder and deleting files or folders, this dialogue comes up:
I believe that the reasoning behind this dialogue is because deleted files don't go to a Trash or ....
- 573
0
votes
1
answer
58
views
Deleted user content by accident
I was trying to empty the trash from terminal because Xcode was stuck in it, but I accidentally removed the trash from the path and ran sudo rm -rf ~/ I thought for a moment i was changing the ...
- 1