Making space on your device by deleting files is a common way to keep your device unclogged. Sometimes you want to delete the files permanently because you are either selling your computer or want the files gone permanently for security reasons.
You can’t possibly make this happen manually. Doing this tedious task with the help of a third party app not only saves your time but also ensures that the work is done. With the help of an app, you can permanently delete files and also its traces.
In this post, we will discuss how to delete your files on Mac permanently without leaving any traces.
Check the option that is most applicable to your case and click on Delete User to delete the selected User Account from your Mac. As you can see in the image above, in case you choose the first option to Delete User Account, but save the Home Folder in a disk image, the disk image will be saved in /Users Folder.
Can You Delete Files Manually?
Yes, it can be! You can remove your files manually from your Mac and there are two methods to do the same with Keyboard Shortcuts. If your Mac is updated to the latest version of OSX, then you have an option to permanently delete files on Mac. This means the deleted file will be removed from your Mac instead of landing into the Trash bin.
- The Control + Shift + Eject key combination isn’t like the first four Ctrl + Alt + Del Mac (or Alt + Ctrl + Del Mac) alternatives described in this article, but it allows you to quickly lock your computer so you can safely walk away from it to enjoy a nice cup of hot coffee knowing that nobody won’t be able to use your computer.
- Select the file that you want to delete permanently. Now Press Option+Command+Delete on your keyboard and click Delete on the prompt that appears to complete the process. This method will permanently delete a file from your Mac. Note: You can also permanently delete folders on Mac in the same way.
1. Keyboard Shortcuts For Deleting Files/Folders Immediately:
To delete a file or folder permanently, follow these steps:
- Select the file that you want to delete permanently.
- Now Press Option+Command+Delete on your keyboard and click Delete on the prompt that appears to complete the process.
This method will permanently delete a file from your Mac.
Note: You can also permanently delete folders on Mac in the same way.
Option Delete Macros
Read Also: Steps To Change Your Mac’s Default Applications
2. Use Finder Menu To Delete File/Folder Immediately:
You can also use Finder menu to delete a file or folder immediately. To do so, follow these steps:
- Select the file(s) or folder(s) that you want to permanently delete on your Mac then hold the OPTION key while you access the “File” menu from the Finder.
- From the drop-down list, select Delete immediately.
- It will ask for your permission to Delete a file/folder permanently.
No doubt the files will be deleted permanently with this method however, there may be traces left behind. So, to make sure that your deleted files stay irretrievable and is out of your Mac without leaving any traces, then using a third party app is the best option.
Can We Permanently Delete Files/Folders On Mac?
One of the best software to take care of this mess is TuneupMyMac application by Systweak software. The application has an inbuilt shredder which works wonders when it comes to deleting secret files permanently. We have listed a step by step guide which will help you to know how to use shredder option of TuneupMyMac to delete files permanently without leaving traces. Download TuneupmyMac here.
1. Launch TuneupMyMac or install if you have got it already.
2. Once the app is up, under Security, click Shredder.
3. The shredder interface is up, click Add to add the files or folders which you want to remove permanently. Dark reader for safari 1 0 3.
4. Make sure you have selected the files which you want to delete by double checking the list.
Option Delete Mac Cache
5. Now, click on shred icon to permanently delete files on Mac.
In this way, you can delete files, photos or folders permanently from your Mac without leaving traces behind.
Read Also: How To Organize Files And Folders Using macOS Tags
Are There Any Additional Features Of TuneupMyMac?
Yes, the application has other features as well. The application doesn’t only remove files or photos from your Mac but also helps you recover storage on your Mac. It also comes with an inbuilt duplicate file cleaner, which helps you to remove duplicate files from your Mac and helps you keep your Mac organized. It will also help you to recover space on your Mac by clicking it and removing logs and other junk files on your Mac. You can also uninstall applications from your Mac along with its associated files.
Using this software can work on Mac OS X 10.7 or later so if you are running an older version of OS X which is not having “Delete immediately” option by default it can be considered as better way.
![Mac Mac](https://cdn.cultofmac.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/minila-2.jpg)
If you've recently switched to Mac from Windows, you'll no doubt have wondered if there's a Ctrl-Alt-Del equivalent for Mac. The command brings up a menu that is used on Windows to terminate a program/task, or reboot a system. You can even choose to sign out of your account or switch to another one. So, basically, it's a universal fix.
How to press Ctrl Alt Delete on a Mac? There's no exact keyboard shortcut that performs the same task as Ctrl+Alt+Delete does on Windows, but you can achieve similar results on Mac — at least with terminating apps — through different commands.
Improved force quit on Mac
The Mac version on Ctrl-Alt-Delete: Grab the best tools for force quitting, effortlessly
There are at least five ways to close programs on Mac via Force Quit. You can use Terminal, a keyboard shortcut, the Apple Menu, Dock, or Activity Monitor, all of which will represent ctrl alt del equivalent for Mac. Download bbedit 13 0 for mac serial number.
In this article, we take a look at all the known ways of using the Mac version of Control Alt Delete.
How to Ctrl-Alt-Delete on a Mac
The simplest answer to 'How do you control alt delete on a Mac keyboard?' would be to use Force Quit. And guess what, there's a shortcut for that as well.
So here's how to do Ctrl Alt Delete on a Mac:
- Press ⌘+Option+Esc and you'll bring up the Force Quit dialog box. This can be used at any time but, given that you can quit any app by making it active and pressing ⌘+Q, the only time you'll need it is when an app stops responding or starts beachballing. The command would still works when the app is in full-screen mode.
- Once you've called up the dialog box, you'll see a list of currently running apps. Usually the one that's causing a problem will be labelled as not responding.
- Select the non-responding app and press Force Quit.
Option Delete Mac Shortcut
If you don't want to memorize the shortcut, there's an easy way to perform the same action via the Apple menu: Click on the Apple logo in the upper left corner > Force Quit > select the app and force quit (the equivalent of ctrl alt del on Mac). Microsoft office 2019 for mac review.
Tip: If apps regularly become unresponsive or start hogging processor cycles, iStat Menus can help get to the bottom of what's causing the problem. It will show you which apps are using the biggest CPU cycles. And if you need more information, you can launch Activity Monitor directly from the iStat Menus app.
All other alternatives for Ctrl+Alt+Del on a Mac
How to perform 'Ctrl-Alt-Delete' on Mac?
There are a couple of other force quit shortcuts to unfreeze app on Mac:
- Dock. If you hold down the Control and Option keys, and click on an app's icon in the Dock, you'll see Force Quit listed as an option in the menu that pops up. Select it and the app should force quit.
- Activity Monitor. You can double-click on any application in the Activity Monitor to bring up a separate window with more information about it and the Quit option to close it.
- Apple Menu. The third way to do the equivalent of control alt delete on a Mac keyboard is to click on the Apple menu and select Force Quit. This will bring up the Force Quit dialog box and you can select the unresponsive app from there.
- Terminal. If the basic methods don't work, you can access Terminal utility in the Applications and type the force quit command:
- Type 'top' and press the Return button. You'll see the information about all the apps that are active at the moment.
- In the Command column, find the name of the app you want to terminate and make a note of its PID number (right on the left).
- Type 'q' to return to the command line.
- Type 'kill111' (replacing 111 with the PID number) — this will perform force quit on Mac for the selected program.
- Quit Terminal.
Once you learn how to force quit an app on Mac, here are two quick ways to relaunch it:
- Click on the app icon if it's in the Dock.
- Click on the magnifying glass in the top right corner, type the name of the app, and click on it once it appears.
What do you do when application won't Force Quit
Sometimes it's not just one app that's unresponsive. What to do when your Mac freezes? How do you start Task Manager on a Mac?
To fix browser freezing — let's say, if you can't quit Safari — it would be enough to go into Activity Monitor and kill Safari processes. But if the whole system is not responding and force quit doesn't work on Mac, you'll have to give it a fresh start.
Unlike Windows macOS doesn't use the typical Ctrl-Alt-Delete shortcut to choose frozen programs to Force Quit. If you have a frozen Mac that won't do anything and you can't use any of the methods above to force quit (tip: you can force quit the Finder if it's misbehaving — it's just an app), you need to force it to restart.
Simple steps to fix force quit not working on Mac:
- Hold down Command and Control and press the power button to restart it. If you have a MacBook Pro with a Touch Bar, that won't work. You'll need to force it to shutdown and then start it normally. You do that by holding down the power button for five seconds. Your Mac will then forcibly shut down.
- You can restart your Mac again by waiting a few seconds and pressing the power button.
This is not the most time-efficient option, but it's definitely helpful to know how to close all apps on Mac.
How to check performance with Activity Monitor
If your Mac is running slowly, but all your apps are still working, or if the fans seem to run more often than normal or are louder than usual, there may be a process hogging CPU cycles. Seems it is a good time to peek inside the processes running on your computer. You can use Mac Activity Monitor shortcut to discover the culprit.
Here's how to start task manager on Mac:
- Launch Activity Monitor from the Utilities folder in your Applications folder and click the CPU tab.
- Make sure the arrow next to CPU% is pointing down. If not, click it.
- If there are any apps or processes using up significant CPU cycles (more than half), they may be causing a problem. You can quit them if you select the app or stop process (it could be a Safari tab) and press the X in the toolbar.
All in all, there is no direct equivalent of pressing Ctrl+Alt+Delete on a Mac but by using a combination of the Force Quit function and Activity Monitor tool you can not only end task on Mac, but actually achieve a more informed result. And if you'd like to have even more control over your Mac, use iStat Menus to get all the up-to-date information. You can download and try iStat Menus for free from Setapp and see what's slowing down your Mac right now.
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Command Option Delete Mac
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