MacMost Now 316: Trashcan Basics

Learn the basics of using the Mac trashcan to delete files. Windows users will find it is slightly different than the Windows recycle bin. This is an excerpt from the book the MacMost.com Guide to Switching to the Mac https://macmost.com/book

You can also watch this video at YouTube (but with ads).

Video Transcript: HI this is gary with MacMost Now. On todays episode lets learn how to delete files using the trash. So in my new book MacMost.com guide to switching to the mac i talk about deleting files using the trashcan which is very useful for people who have just switch from windows to mac and are using mac for the first time lets take a look. The basic process for deleting files consist of two steps move the file into the trash folder and then empty the trash. The trash folder is s holding place for files that you no longer need. and is represented on the doc as a trash can icon all the way to right side of the dock. double click on that and you get a finder window that looks pretty much like any other finder window you can even set it to icon, list , or column view. The trash folder is similar to the windows recycle bin but it isn't an icon on the desk top. instead in the dock, it also wont automatically delete files as it grows in size like the recycle bin there are many ways to put a file in the trash, you can simply drag its icon from any finder window or the desktop into the trashcan icon on the dock. You can also select the file and press command plus delete on the keyboard. Another way is to right click or control click on the icon or item and choose move to trash you can also choose file move to trash from the menu bar. When a file is in the trash, there is no need to rush to empty the trash for most casual computer users. The whole idea of the trash is to give you time to change your mind. It may turn out that you threw away the wrong file or that you actually did need that file a few weeks later it is not uncommon for the trash to hold days or even months of old unwanted files. When you do want to empty the trash all you need to do is choose file empty trash or you could control click on the trash can icon in the dock and choose empty trash or you could open the trash finder window and look for the empty button on the right side near the top. one option is to use file secure empty trash instead of just empty trash the difference is that secure empty trash over writes the blocks on your hard drive that contains the files making it impossible to recover the file contents otherwise empty trash just tells the user to just forget that those files existed and reuses those blocks the next time it needs them for something else. So that gives you a bit of an idea of some of the basics that the book covers in the earlier chapters to find out more about the book go to MacMost.com/book till next time im gary Rosenzweig of MacMost Now

Comments: 8 Responses to “MacMost Now 316: Trashcan Basics”

Jim Shiporski

15 years ago

Hi, Your podcasts are not downloading in iTunes. it's been a while. Corrupt files?
Jim

Gary Rosenzweig

No issues on this end. Stats show as many downloads as always. Perhaps your ISP is blocking or throttling video downloads? Can you get to http://blip.tv? -- that's where the videos are served from.

Paul

Gary,
Worth noting that, unlike Windows, files can still be in use though in the trash. As new Mac user I had (and used) Quicken data files though they were accidentally in the trash. After several months when I emptied the trash I lost everything.

jim Harlan

When are you going to stop using Flash, I would like to watch on my iPhone.

You can definitely watch on your iPhone. I've enabled that in several ways. First, you can go to http://macmost.com/iphone.html and watch versions of the videos that are specially made for the iPhone and streaming over wireless. Second, you can subscribe to the podcast at http://macmost.com/itunes.html and those will sync and play on your iPhone like podcasts do, even without a connection.

Thanks

Sue

14 years ago

can't seem to find your book on the iBook store, I am accessing the store via my iphone (4) can you help?
Many thanks.
Sue

Do a search for "MacMost" and it comes up right away. At least in the U.S. It differs by country, I think.

Comments Closed.

MacMost Now 316: Trashcan Basics

Comments: 8 Responses to “MacMost Now 316: Trashcan Basics”

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