How to empty your recycle bin on a Mac if it is not working

“Trash” can't be opened right now because it's being used by another task, such as moving or copying an item or emptying the Trash. Try again ...

Try logging out and logging back in, if the iMac has not been otherwise restarted since you noticed this problem. That will restart the Dock application.

Restart your Mac. It should now show as having trash. Empty the trash and ensure that the icon changes to empty. Dear Carolyn,

Click the Trash icon from the Dock. · Open a new Finder window, click Go > Go to folder, and type Trash pressing Return afterward.

If you're unable to empty Trash on Mac, first make sure your files aren't locked, have read and write permissions, or aren't still in use by ...

Check to see that Empty trash securely is not set. This erases files multiple times, so it takes much longer to delete.

You could try to force empty the trash: Press and hold the Option key on your keyboard and then click on Empty Trash in the Finder menu.

- Go to the Finder menu at the top of the screen, then select Empty Trash. - Press Command + Shift + Delete on your keyboard. 3. Confirm ...

You may restart and press and hold left Shift just after the Apple sign appears on screen, then release Shift when the login screen appears, ...

Command + Delete immediately followed by Command + Shift + Delete to empty the trash every time, purely out of habit at this point.