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A file is still in use when trying to empty the Trash – how can I remove it?

Fresh5 days ago
Mar 15, 202610130 views
Confidence Score0%
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Problem

When you try to empty the Trash in OS X, and there is a file still open in an application, you receive the dialog: The operation can't be completed because the item "…" is in use. How can I find out which application or which process still uses this file?

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Fix for: A file is still in use when trying to empty the Trash – how can I remove it?

Low Risk

Using to find what's keeping the file open Open up Terminal.app and use the following command to get to your Trash: Now, enter the following command: For example, in the above screenshot, it would be: (important to escape spaces here). You can also …

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