Delete Immediately is a handy feature if you want to rid a file or folder from the Mac right away and without having to manually empty the Trash, it effectively skips the Trash function and just deletes the files. If you’ve got a lot of files and folders on your Mac, you want to clean up every once in a while to stay organized and make it easier to find specific items. First, locate any files or folders that you want to delete. You just click to highlight file and drag it into the handy trash can at the dock at the bottom of the screen.

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How To Delete Files Off Mac

I have a file (4alJRTP_.gif.part) in my downloads folder that won't seem to delete.

Every time I drag it to the trash, nothing shows up in the trash and the file icon remains in the downloads folder.

I also tried opening the file and a pop-up window shows up saying 'file_name.gif.part' can't be found'.

How can I get rid of the file icon in my downloads folder? Any help will be greatly appreciated!

3 Answers

First of all BE INCREDIBLY CAREFUL WHEN USING RECURSIVE DELETE FROM TERMINAL

Next, just make sure that the applications that might have used these are closed.

That warning out of the way, here is how you can do it.

1. First open Terminal (in /Applications/Utilities).
2. Type cd ~/Downloads and press Return.
3. Then type sudo srm -f followed by a Space (don’t leave out the spacel). Try this first if it doesn't work then use sudo srm -Rf which is the recursive form of this command
4. Don’t press Return yet.
5. Next, in Finder open a window displaying the contents of the Downloads folder.
6. Select ONLY the files in that window that you want deleted and drag them into the Terminal window; this adds the paths of all the files to the rm(remove) command.
7. Now, press Return
8. Enter your administrator password when prompted

In a moment or two the files should be gone.

The same premise works with the Trash folder as well, with a few modifications and you may want to do this as the file may actually be there but hidden.

1. First open Terminal (in /Applications/Utilities).
2. Type cd ~/.Trash and press Return.
3. Then type sudo srm -Rf followed by a Space (don’t leave out the space). You will need the recursive for to handle subdirectories, etc.
4. Don’t press Return yet.
5. Next, click the Trash icon in your Dock to open a window displaying the contents of the Trash.
6. Select everything in that window and drag it into the Terminal window; this action adds the paths of all those files and folders to the rm(remove) command.
7. Now, press Return
8. Enter your administrator password when prompted

In a moment or two (depending on how much was in your Trash), the Trash icon should return to its empty state.

To check to see if there are hidden files you can do this.

and then to hide them again you can do:

I hope that helps, and I really hope that you don't delete things you don't want to... These are powerful tools, and With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility.

Update

The file that you are looking to delete, the one that says *.part is a file extension indicating that a file was downloaded partially.

This likely occured when Firefox, Skype, or another app able to download from the internet stopped a download mid-download.

Take a look Downloads on your browser, command-J on Firefox, shift-command-J on Chrome, and alt-command-L in Safari, and see if any of the files there has a partial download. You should be able to cancel the download there and then that file should clear up, or stop reappearing after you download it.

-- The answer I provided is based on the technique that I obtained from Joe Kissell's article on MacWorld and have used during the times I have not been able to empty my trash bin.

The method may depend on how comfortable you are using Terminal…

1. Use the Terminal command sudo rm -R followed by the path to the stuck file, which you can easily get by dragging it into terminal after typing the command, or

2. Try Trash It! (freeware)

Have you tried to 'Secure Empty Trash'?

In Finder-menu you have an option 'Secure Empty Trash' or hold CMD and right-click on the trash. You will get a popup allowing to 'Secure Empty Trash'

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Apple Mac has a very friendly and clean interface, and it runs smoothly and fast. In everyday use, we may have downloaded kinds of applications, pictures, and some confidential files on our Mac hard drive. There is a Downloads folder that contains all your download files that take up space and can also leak your privacy. In this post, we will show you two ways to remove downloads and download history in browsers from your Mac to free up more space.

Also Read: How to Optimize Your Mac in 3 Methods >

Part 1. How to Delete Downloads and Download History on Mac with MacClean

MacClean is a new and smart cleaning program for all Macs, and it allows you to clear Internet junks like download history, browsing history, cookies, caches, and sessions from Safari, Chrome, Firefox, and Opera. It also manages to remove downloads from Mac in one click. Download MacClean and Have a Free Trail Now >

How to Delete Downloads on Mac with MacClean:

Step 1. Run MacClean, and select Cleanup Tools from the left side list.

Delete Files On Mac Desktop

Step 2. Choose Large & Old Files from the utilities, and choose Downloads to start scan.

Step 3. Now you will see all downloads in the Downloads folder, and you can select the download files you want to delete with the File Type and File Size filter. You can also remove all downloads from Mac by selecting all files and clicking the Clean button.

How to Deleted Downloads on a Mac

Can’t Miss: How to Easily Delete Temporary Files on Mac >

How to Delete Download History on Mac with MacClean:

Step 1. Run MacClean and choose Internet Junk. Select a browser with download history or junk files you want to clear. Click Scan.

Step 2. After the scan is over, choose the browser you need to find the download history.

Step 3. Select all download history and back to the last page. Click Clean to clear downloads history from Mac.

Delete Download History on Mac with MacClean

Can I Delete Files In Download Folder Mac 10

Part 2. How to Delete Downloads on Mac Directly

• Go to the Finder from the dock and click on it.
• After entering the manage page, Find Downloads on the left list.
• Click on it, it shows all downloads on the right pane.
• You can select all of your downloads by pressing Command + A, or you can choose one download at a time. Then right click the mouse and click on 'Move to Trash'.
• Empty your Trash on Mac.

The Bottom Line

MacClean is aimed to clear out space and private, to let your enjoy your life with more freedom. If you still have any question about MacClean or meet any problem when using MacClean, be free to contact our support team via Email, and they will reply to you within 24 hours. If you like this guide, don't forget to share it with your friends.