I’ve been cleaning up some junk files off my linux laptop and deleted files from various directories with no problem. Well, then I go to Empty the Trash Can when I get an error message – something about can’t delete those files due to permissions. Did some google searching and found this helpful tip from the Ubuntu Geek website about mid-way down in a post by Lopo.

Basically, I just opened Terminal in Super User mode (found this in my menu system at Applications | System Tools | Terminal Program – Super User Mode). You will need to enter your root (super user aka su) password before proceeding.

Next, I entered this at the command line:

sudo rm -rf /home/YOUR HOME DIRECTORY HERE/.local/share/Trash/files/*

note: there is a space after the -rf and mind the capital letters as they matter to linux.

**caution: this will really really really delete stuff so be careful**