Can not empty Trash on M4 Mac Mini (Tahoe 26.1)

Noonewilleverknow wrote:

The files are from a "deleted User": Adobe/Animate/2022/Assets/Default/65e5cf7e-fea2-40cc-bc14-ff7580f95e4a

It's not from a Time Machine backup.

Will the trash definitely be deleted when I reinstall the OS?

Try Empty Trash from a Recovery OS Terminal (not regular Terminal)

Shut down your Mac.

Hold Power until you see Loading startup options…

Click Options → Continue.

Go to Utilities → Terminal.

Run: cd /Volumes/Macintosh\ HD/Users/<yourusername>/.Trash

sudo rm -rf *

plug the external drive back in... then try again

Where did that file originally come from and how did it get into the trash...?

If you are dabbling around trying to delete macOS System files or App's, then it sounds like you may need to wipe, reinstall the macOS and recover from your Time Machine or other backup.

If you think or know that file came from your Time Machine backup drive, eject and disconnect the Time Machine backup drive. Then if the file disappears from the trash? The only way to fix that, is to erase your Time Machine backup drive and start over.

Reinstalling Over the Existing Installation ?

IMHO, will not fix the issue

An Erase all Connect and Setting may provided one does not Migrate Everything Back again

Emphasis on User Account Only

https://eclecticlight.co/2024/11/15/should-you-migrate-to-your-new-mac-and-when/

Sorry we are split hairs OP wrote " Save Mode“, disabling SIP and doing these terminal tricks like „sudo rm -rf ~/.Trash/*“ "

The suggestion was from Recovery Mode

The question that I have is:

Why can't I see the .Trashes folder on the Mac HD when I access it via “Targeting Disc Mode”?

Finder doesn’t show it much like it doesn’t show .DS_Store files.