In other words, if you delete a file from your Documents folder and then dont touch the Trash for a month, that file will be permanently deleted and the space it was occupying will be freed up.

The Finder Preferences window will appear and longtime Mac users will notice a few new options.įind and check the box labeled Remove items from the Trash after 30 days. Then, launch Finder and go to Finder Preferences in the menu bar at the top of the screen. To enable it, first make sure youre fully upgraded to macOS Sierra. How to Auto-Empty Trash in Sierra Thankfully, the best solution is the one that Apple has just introduced in macOS Sierra: a built-in option to automatically remove items from the Trash after 30 days.

Some third party solutions have appeared which will monitor and manage Trash for the user, but these are often all or nothing approaches that dont offer the the granular control that an integrated solution can provide. The presence of the Trash feature acts as an important safeguard for the accidental deletion of files. Warakorn Adobe Stock So whats the solution Although it is possible to do so, turning off the Trash on your primary Mac drive isnt ideal. This results in hundreds or thousands of unneeded files building up over time.Įven if the files are all relatively small, they can cumulatively add up to many gigabytes of wasted space. Its only when the user selects the Empty Trash command that the data is removed from the drive and the files become unrecoverable via normal methods.Ī Digital Sanitation Strike The Macs Trash system, on its own, works well.īut the simple fact is that many users forget to empty their Trash. If the user realizes they deleted something by mistake, they can go into Trash and restore it like nothing happened. The file appears to be gone, but the actual data comprising it still takes up space on the drive. In macOS past and present, when a user deletes a file or folder it is moved to the Trash. Turn Off Secure Trash Empty Sierra Mac Gains A Turn Off Secure Trash Empty Sierra Mac Gains A.

How to secure empty trash mac sierra