This post will show you how to Fix ‘The Item Can’t Be Moved to Trash Because It’s Open’ issue. After reading, you can remove the app completely from your Mac. You can easily install apps on your Mac from the Mac App Store and from places other than the App Store, in addition to the apps that came with macOS.
You need to remove apps from your Mac for some reason, like to make more space on your hard drive or to fix apps that aren’t working right. But when you drag and drop the unwanted app into the Mac Trash as you always have, you get an error message that says The item [app name] can’t be moved to the Trash because it’s open.
Most of the time, all you have to do to delete files and folders from a Mac is drag them into the Trash can. However, sometimes things don’t go as planned. When you try to send something to the Trash, you might get the following message: “The item “filename.ext” can’t be moved to the Trash because it can’t be deleted.” This is one of the more strange errors that can happen when you try to delete a file.
Ways to Fix ‘The Item Can’t Be Moved to Trash Because It’s Open’ issue
You can try either way to fix the problem. We recommend that you try the first method before you move on to the second.
Method 1:
- Open Spotlight by pressing Cmd+Space.
- Type Activity Monitor.
- Select the application from the list.
- Click on the X in the upper left corner of the window.
- Click Force Quit to confirm that you want to quit the process.
- Now open Finder and go to the Applications directory.
- Select the application from the list.
- Right click and press Move to Trash.
Did Method 1 not work, don’t worry. Method 2 exists. (Only if you get an error like the one in the picture above when you try to uninstall an app.) You can also go to the official Mac support site to know more information about this issue.
Method 2:
- Open Finder and go to the Applications directory.
- Select the application you want to uninstall, right click on the application list item and choose Show Package Contents.
- Now go to the Contents folder and go further into the MacOS folder.
- Look for the Unix executable file with the same name as the Application.
- Delete the file using Right click and Move to Trash.
- Now go to the Activity Monitor and Force Quit the application like in Method 1.
- Now go the Applications folder again and Right click on the application and Move it to Trash.
FAQ
Why won’t my Mac let me move things to Trash?
You can force your Mac’s app to close. Use the keyboard shortcut Command + Option + ESC to open the Force Quit Applications window. Then, choose the app you want to delete and click Force Quit to close it. Close the window and try to move the app to the Trash again.
Why won t my mac let me delete Grammarly?
Don’t use Grammarly. Look for “Grammarly” by going to Applications > Utilities > Activity Monitor. If you find any processes that are still running, select them and click Quit in the toolbar. Move the Grammarly app from the Applications folder to the Trash by dragging it there.
How do you delete a file that won’t delete?
Use Shift + Delete to Force Delete File/Folder. If you want to delete a file or folder for good, you can select it and use the Shift + Delete keyboard shortcut. This way of getting rid of files won’t work in the Recycle Bin.
How do I delete an app that won’t close?
If you have a PC, you can open the Task Manager panel by pressing “Ctrl-Alt-Delete” or by searching for “task” from the Start screen and choosing “Task Manager” from the list of results. To force an app to close, click its name and then click “End Task.”