-JwT-
asked on
How do I delete just one file from MacOS's Trash?
I want to use the Trash folder the way it's intended, as a safety buffer in case I change my mind or discover that I've made a mistake by deleting something. However, if I've gotten a really huge file onto my disk that I don't need, or no longer need, I need to recapture its disk space and would like to do that without changing the Trash arrangement. I can open the Trash (opens in Finder like any other folder) and see the file, but the only option I see is "Empty Trash" not any sort of "Delete this file forever".
I'm not even sure it's safe to move stuff out of Trash to some other folder, for safekeeping while I Empty the one file I'm after - which would be a clunky workaround but at least for all I know, files in Trash may have special properties I'll corrupt that way. Hmm, in fact I just did an experiment: (1) move a file out of trash to someplace NOT = its original folder before it was deleted; (2) move it back to Trash, using the context menu's Move To Trash option because I can't get Finder to show me the Trash folder; (3) now the Put Back option puts it back in the temp folder not the original folder where I'd really want it if I needed to undo its deletion. This makes the "temp-folder-for-everythin
I'm not even sure it's safe to move stuff out of Trash to some other folder, for safekeeping while I Empty the one file I'm after - which would be a clunky workaround but at least for all I know, files in Trash may have special properties I'll corrupt that way. Hmm, in fact I just did an experiment: (1) move a file out of trash to someplace NOT = its original folder before it was deleted; (2) move it back to Trash, using the context menu's Move To Trash option because I can't get Finder to show me the Trash folder; (3) now the Put Back option puts it back in the temp folder not the original folder where I'd really want it if I needed to undo its deletion. This makes the "temp-folder-for-everythin
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arnold
Like anything, you open the trash, locate the item you do not want select and hit delete.
ASKER
Not the answer I was hoping for, but THAT answer may not exist. If it does, then this answer is incomplete. If it doesn't, then I would have come up with the same answer after brushing up on my rusty U*x and doing some more research / poking around. I'm happy to be saved that time, but sad that Mac OS [seems to be] so deficient in this respect. (It would be so easy to just include Delete Altogether among the options, right where a file NOT in the Trash would say Move To Trash - just as the other "expert" answer assumed they HAD done, apparently without checking.) P.S. I think I over-valued this question at 250 points, novice question-poser: hope that makes up for the non-'A' grade.