For multiple reasons, you fail to delete items from Mac trash, such as the files being in use, the files being locked, limited permission, system errors, software incompatibility, etc. You can try to force empty Mac trash, delete them with Terminal, boot into Safe Mode, etc., to remove the deleted items from Mac Trash.
As you have already checked the file info, they are not labeled as Locked, Read-only, or No access, you should have permission to edit the files including the deletion operation. When you can't empty MacBook Trash, follow the methods below to get it fixed. You are recommended to back up your Mac to avoid data loss.
- Method 1. Force empty Mac Trash by pressing down the Option key and simultaneously clicking the Empty button in the Trash folder.
- Method 2. Use the Terminal command. Open Terminal from Finder > Applications > Utilities, type the command sudo rm -R, and press Space, then drag and drop the items from Mac Trash to the Terminal window, and press Enter to run the command.
- Method 3. Boot Mac into Safe Mode. Click this link to boot an Intel Mac or an Apple silicon Mac into Safe Mode, the specific steps vary. After getting into Safe Mode, try to delete those items from Mac Trash again.
- Method 4. Repair Mac hard drive with First Aid. Perhaps, the Mac hard drive is corrupted, then it prevents from deleting items on Mac. You can run First Aid to check and repair some logical errors on the drive, then try to delete those files from Mac Trash again.
- Method 5. Uninstall recently installed apps. Some apps may interfere with the normal performance of your Mac. The newly installed apps should be suspicious.
- Method 6. Update macOS to eliminate system-related errors.
