Where Is the Trash Folder on Mac?
Mac ~/.Trash folder plus per drive .Trashes roots, and why external drive space lingers after emptying.
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Mac Trash is a hidden .Trash folder in your home directory, merging contents from every drive. External disks keep their own .Trashes roots with per user subfolders.
Ejecting a drive with trashed files still on it keeps that space used. Empty Trash with the drive mounted to actually free it.
Where macOS stores this, by platform
~/.Trash
In Finder press Cmd+Shift+period to reveal dotfolders. External drives: /Volumes/[Disk]/.Trashes/[UID]. Use Put Back in Finder for restores.
Frequently asked questions
Why is my USB stick still full after deleting everything?
The files sit in its .Trashes folder until you empty Trash with the stick mounted. Deleting alone never frees the space.
Can I empty Trash from Terminal?
Yes by removing ~/.Trash contents with the Finder closed, but Put Back history for those files is lost.
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