Home > Questions

The operation can't be completed because some items had to be skipped

I deleted some of my files from my external HD on Mac and now the files are in the Trash bin. But when I want empty the Trash bin, this massage shows up: "The operation can't be completed because some items had to be skipped. For each item, choose File > Get Info, make sure "Locked" is deselected, and then check the Sharing & Permissions section. When you are sure the items are unlocked and not designated as Read Only or No Access, try again." However, the files are unlocked. Also, the files are not showing in my external HD, they only appear in the Trash bin. Appreciate your help!

Best Answered by

iBoysoft author Jenny Zeng

Jenny Zeng

Answered on Tuesday, January 27, 2026

Try the following solutions to get rid of the error "The operation can't be completed because some items had to be skipped" and empty the Trash on Mac:

If you're certain the files you want to empty from Trash on Mac are unlocked, the next step is to ensure your account has read and write access to the files. Right-click the file that you're unable to delete, select "Get Info," then check if your account is designated as Read & Write. If not, click the yellow lock and enter your password, then change the settings.

If that doesn't work, you can force empty the Trash on Mac using Terminal. Open Terminal, type rm -rf followed by a space, then drag and drop files in your Trash can to Terminal to get their paths. Lastly, press the Enter key.

rm -rf file_path

This command will force remove all the files you dragged to Terminal, including the read-only files.

Read Also:

Mac Trash Won't Empty? Why & How to Force Empty Trash

 

Read More Advice From iBoysoft's Computer Experts

merge apfs container

How To Merge APFS Containers/Partitions to Get More Space

If you have multiple APFS containers or partitions, you can merge the empty/unwanted one to the main container to get a full disk space. This post guides you to merge APFS containers step by step.

Mac Single User Mode

How to Boot into Mac Single User Mode and Repair Your Hard Disk?

Boot your Mac into Single User Mode and use Mac Single User Mode to repair hard disk. And offers the guide to use Mac Single User Mode command.