How to Empty Trash on Mac (Ultimate Guide)

After you delete some files and folders on your Mac, they will go to the Trash bin. To permanently delete the files from your Mac and release storage space, you need to empty the Trash. Below are the 7 ways to let you easily empty Trash on Mac.

How to Empty Trash on Mac in 7 Different Ways

Way 1. Open the Trash App to Empty Trash on Mac

One of the easiest ways to empty Trash on Mac is to click the Trash icon in the Dock to open the Mac Trash app. Then click the Empty button at the top-right.

Way 2. Right-click the Trash Icon and Click Empty Trash

Another easy way to clear Trash on Mac is to right-click the Trash icon in the Dock and click Empty Trash.

Way 3. Empty Mac Trash Using Finder

To delete all data from the Mac Trash bin, you can also use Finder.

1. Click the Finder icon in the Dock, click Finder in the menu bar, and select Empty Trash.
2. Click Empty Trash again.

Way 4. Empty Trash on Mac with Keyboard Shortcut

1. You can press the Shift + Command + Delete keyboard shortcut.
2. Click Empty Trash in the pop-up window to permanently erase the items in the Trash.

Way 5. Use BuhoCleaner to Empty Trash on Mac

BuhoCleaner is a professional Mac cleaner program that frees up space on your Mac. You can use it to delete files and folders, empty Trash, scan and remove junk data, shred files, uninstall apps, analyze disk space, free up RAM on your Mac, and more.

1. Download, install, and launch BuhoCleaner on your Mac.
2. Click Flash Clean > Scan > Remove to remove junk data on your Mac to free up space.
3. Click Large Files > Scan to find and delete unneeded large files from your Mac.
4. Click Duplicates > Click to add folders. Find and delete duplicated files on your Mac.
5. Click Toolkit > Disk Space Analyzer. Select your Mac drive and click Scan. Click Users > Your User Account > Trash. Select all files and folders in the Trash and click Remove to delete all items in your Mac Trash bin.
6. Click Toolkit > Shredder to force delete a file that won’t be deleted on your Mac.

Way 6. Force Empty Trash on Mac with Terminal

You can also use Mac Terminal commands to empty the Trash on your Mac.

1. Open the Terminal app on your Mac via Spotlight.
2. In the Terminal window, type the sudo rm command (for deleting files) or sudo rm -rf command (for deleting folders), followed by a space.
3. Then drag the files or folders from the Trash to the Terminal window, which will be added after the command.
4. Press Enter to remove the items from the Trash.

Way 7. Automatically Delete Items from Trash after 30 Days

You can also change the Trash settings to set it to automatically remove all items after 30 days.

1. Click the Finder icon in the Dock to open Finder.
2. Click Finder in the menu bar and select Settings.
3. Click Advanced.
4. Turn on the “Remove items from the Trash after 30 days” option.

Bottom Line

This post offers 7 ways to let you easily empty Trash on your Mac. You can choose the way that suits you best to regularly remove all items in the Trash bin to free up space on your Mac.