Size of Trash folder

[MikeFromMesa]

I have been trying to figure out how to determine the size of the contents of the Trash folder. If I could see the folder in Finder I could then do a right-click for Get Info, but I don't see any way to do that and, of course, you cannot get that information by right-clicking the Trash icon.

 

[vansmith]

Open up your Trash > File > Get Info.

 

[MikeFromMesa]

Open up your Trash > File > Get Info.

Thank you, but as far as I know that only tells me how big that particular file is. If I have a large number of items in the Trash (as I often do) it does me little good.

I am looking for a way to determine the size of all of the items in the Trash, not each one individually.


----------------- Update:
Never mind. Found a way to do it.

 

[toMACsh]

----------------- Update:
Never mind. Found a way to do it.

Other people who are having the same problem might read your post. It would be helpful to say how you did it.

 

[ankhseeker]

open trash folder , command + option + "I" you can also select one or multiple files for info also.

 

[pm-r]

The method seems to vary depending on the OS X version being used and what view options are set. Not exactly an OS X consistency thing it seems.

 

[MikeFromMesa]

Other people who are having the same problem might read your post. It would be helpful to say how you did it.

You are quite right. My mistake. I just assumed that this was common knowledge for anyone who had been using OS X and that I was alone in not knowing.

As has been posted, click on the Trash folder. When it opens, make sure no files are selected and enter Cmd-I.

Again, my apologies.

 

[IWT]

Interestingly, both methods work on 10.9.4.

Pm-r's solution is the standard way of getting the total size of a bunch of files rather than getting the size for individual files and I would have thought this applied to Trash — well it does, but so does Mike's solution. This must be unique to Trash, I guess.

Ian

 

[RadDave]

None of the suggestions seem to work on my two Mavericks machines, e.g. CMD-I in the Trash Finder window w/o a file selected (plus several other options) - instead I get the window below left which simply states 'Calculating Size...' - found others on the web w/ the same issue, such as HERE.

Now, if I run WhatSize (pic below right), and click on Trash - the information is available; and I'm sure the Terminal would provide the same information. Not sure if this is a bug but is affecting both of my updated Mavericks installs - Dave
.

 

[vansmith]

OS X displays the dashes if it's still calculating which Finder seems to do a lot. If you leave the Get Info window open, does it eventually show the size?

 

[RadDave]

OS X displays the dashes if it's still calculating which Finder seems to do a lot. If you leave the Get Info window open, does it eventually show the size?

Hi Van - well, I've left the dialog box sit there for 3-4 minutes w/ no results. Also, in WhatSize, my trash folder now has 5 GB w/ 2285 files & 498 folders. Most of that data is contained in '*.ipa' files which are iOS archives of apps - I'm assuming that there are 'files & folders' w/i these 'ipa archives', since my 'Trash' in Finder indicates a total of only 380 items (w/ just over 80 ipa archives).

So, hopefully it's the iOS app archives that explain the files/folders numbers - still not sure why 'Trash' cannot calculate the 5 GB number. I'm also running 'Total Finder' which has caused a problem(s) w/ Finder in the past (cannot remember now specifically). Dave

 

[pm-r]

Ummm, errr, you're not supposed to have that much stuff left in your Trash, and it's going to take a loooong time to calculate, and especially if you have its View option to "Calculate all sizes".

With that much stuff and to calculate the total size quicker, try using Terminal and enter this command and look at the result:
du -sh ~/.Trash/

Give it a try and it shouldn't take too long to give you a calculated amount, assuming that's what you wanted to find out.

PS: I'm sure you Mac will appreciate it when you finally empty your Trash. And it just may take a while.

 

[RadDave]

Ummm, errr, you're not supposed to have that much stuff left in your Trash, and it's going to take a loooong time to calculate, and especially if you have its View option to "Calculate all sizes".

With that much stuff and to calculate the total size quicker, try using Terminal and enter this command and look at the result:
du -sh ~/.Trash/...........

Thanks for the comments - I went into the terminal and to my user's .Trash folder - used 'rm *.ipa' which brought up all of those iOS archives (old versions of replaced apps on my iPad which were sent to my laptop's trash on backups) to delete them along w/ a bunch of other large files.

Re-did WhatSize which generate the 'new' trash contents below, i.e. went from 5 GB down to 118 MB along w/ a drastic reduction in files/folders. BUT, CMD-I in Finder Trash still does not work? Dave

.

 

[pm-r]

So what did you get using the Terminal command I posted or did you even try using it?

I assume that you don't get any Get Info window when you use the command on the open Trash window like mine below?

If not, try a shutdown and boot up into Safe Boot Mode and try using the Get Info on the open Trash Window. Maybe a third party app/utility is goofing things up.
Then just restart to get back to "normal", if I dare call it that.

 

[RadDave]

So what did you get using the Terminal command I posted or did you even try using it?

I assume that you don't get any Get Info window when you use the command on the open Trash window like mine below?

If not, try a shutdown and boot up into Safe Boot Mode and try using the Get Info on the open Trash Window. Maybe a third party app/utility is goofing things up.
Then just restart to get back to "normal", if I dare call it that.

Yes I did use the Terminal for removing the *.ipa files as explained previously; the WhatSize app already provided the total amount of files in Trash - there was a tremendous decrease as discussed in my last post - taught me that backing up an iPad adds a LOT of big files/folders to Trash.

Just decided to logout of my account - logged back in and the CMD-I worked from w/i Trash (pic attached) - not sure what the issue was? BUT, will keep an eye on those discarded old iPad app versions - thanks again for your time. Dave
.

 

[pm-r]

I'm glad to read that things are working better but I don't know about all the deleted stuff from your iPad showing up in your Mac's Trash.

I have a old iPad 2 that I got last August and I've never seen any deleted stuff from my iPad show up on my Mac.

And the only thing I do have is my iPad's backup, or what Apple refers to as a "backup". Not my idea of what it should be at all!!!

 

[chscag]

I have a old iPad 2 that I got last August and I've never seen any deleted stuff from my iPad show up on my Mac.

I wonder if we'll begin to see that when we go live with Yosemite and iOS 8? (According to an article in this month's Macworld mag.) Supposedly Airdrop will start working between your Mac and your iOS devices.

 

[RadDave]

I'm glad to read that things are working better but I don't know about all the deleted stuff from your iPad showing up in your Mac's Trash.

I have a old iPad 2 that I got last August and I've never seen any deleted stuff from my iPad show up on my Mac.

And the only thing I do have is my iPad's backup, or what Apple refers to as a "backup". Not my idea of what it should be at all!!!

Well, there's always a 'learning curve', I guess -

I just plugged in my iPad 2 to the same MBPro and opened iFunBox on the latter which lists the files on the iPad - below is a 'screen capture' w/ Numbers highlighted - notice the amount of folders & files associated w/ that app, and also the arrow indicates an IPA file - my feeling is that when an iPad update is done the 'old IPA version' is discarded into TRASH on the syncing computer - NOW, I don't know if this feature can be over-rided?

I just checked my wife's iMac (we back up her iPad Mini there) - she had numerous IPA files of old versions of her device's updates - BOTTOM LINE - seems like after apps are updated on an iPad (and likely other iDevices), when the device is synced/updated to the associated computer the old IPA is dumped into the trash - I'll appreciate the input of others. For myself, I'll simply pay more attention to this trash issue and will soon clear those IPA files from my mate's iMac probably just via the Terminal using the remove command. Dave
.

 

[pm-r]

Good heavens, really...????

What was Apple thinking to actually come up and create such technology to have and allow any file transfer over wi-fi. That's just so amazing and advanced... and between some of their idevices and Mac models, but thanks for the info.

 

[xairbusdriver]

The Trash is exactly where the old/replaced .ipa files go. The old .ipa file is actually the old app, no need for it, place in the trash.

What amazes me is that someone would seemingly never empty their trash! The Trash should never be considered as a "storage" place. I just don't understand the point of never emptying the Trash. It certainly makes a mess in your home! Basically does the same on your drive! I suspect this is an ex-Windows user? ;-) Leaving stuff in your Trash is simply changing the pointers in your files directories, it doesn't free up the space consumed by the trashed items, that space is still marked as used, so nothing will ever be over-written there. That's the whole point of the Trash keeping tract of what's in it. You still have the opportunity of retrieving it, painlessly, as long as it's in there. But leaving it there indefinitely is simply wasting your drive space. Take the Trash to the curb at least once a week!

If there is something in there accidentally, remove it. If there is something worth keeping, archive it. Otherwise, just empty it. With Gb's of stuff in there, even that will take a while, the drives directories have to be rewritten.