// The actual original folders/files were named Documents, Music, Pages, Numbers, etc. The 00001kkkkk–00007kkkkk names are the stuck internal remnants, not the names of the original personal folders. //

macOS Trash / Relocated Items Problem

I am unable to permanently delete a leftover folder/object from macOS Trash.

Finder reports an error similar to:

00001kkkkk and 5 more are actally  Documents Music Pages Numbers folders renamed.

>

Important background

The problem started after dealing with an earlier macOS:

/Users/Shared/Relocated Items

folder.

That folder was deleted previously.

The actual folders/files that had been involved were ordinary personal macOS folders/files, including:

• Documents
• Music
• Pages
• Numbers
• and other personal files/folders.

I have already renamed/moved the relevant personal folders as part of the earlier cleanup.

What I have already tried

I have already:

• Turned off/quit the cloud-drive application involved.
• Tried deleting the item normally from Finder.
• Tried emptying Trash.
• Restarted and stopped the relevant cloud application.
• Used Terminal to investigate whether a process was holding the item open.
• Ran lsof; it did not report a process holding 00001kkkkk open.
• Located the actual filesystem object with find.
• Tried sudo rm -rf against the correct path.
• The object still cannot be removed.

Actual location discovered

The relevant structure is:

~/.Trash/tRash/
    <directory whose name is literally one space>
        Mobile Documents/
            00001kkkkk
            00002kkkkk
            00003kkkkk
            00004kkkkk
            00005kkkkk
            00006kkkkk
            00007kkkkk

The numbered names above are internal/stale remnants, not the names of the original personal folders.

The original user data involved Documents, Music, Pages, Numbers, and other personal files/folders.

Filesystem characteristics

The affected numbered objects show these flags:

hidden,compressed,dataless

There is no uchg/immutable flag reported.

The object is on the normal root filesystem /.

Deletion behavior

Attempting:

sudo rm -rf -- "/Users/name/.Trash/tRash/ "

does not remove the contents.

Instead, macOS reports:

Directory not empty

for the numbered objects and their parent directories.

Directory-read behavior

Attempting to inspect one of the numbered objects produces:

ls: fts_read: Operation timed out

find can see the numbered directory itself but does not reveal ordinary child files inside it.

iCloud / CloudDocs indicators

The hierarchy contains:

Mobile Documents

and the system has Apple's cloud-related processes running, including:

bird
cloudd
fileproviderd

A recent log search did not show relevant entries for the stuck object.

brctl status returned:

BRCloudDocsErrorDomain Code=141 "Access denied"

Important distinction

The original data was normal personal data such as:

Documents, Music, Pages, Numbers, and other personal folders/files.

The 00001kkkkk** etc. names are not the names of those original files**. They appear to be internal/stale objects left behind after the earlier Relocated Items/deletion process.

I want to make absolutely sure that any repair or deletion procedure removes only these stale remnants and does not delete or damage the actual Documents, Music, Pages, Numbers, or other personal data.

Requested assistance

Please determine the safest way to permanently remove the stale internal objects from Trash.

If APFS/Disk Utility First Aid or macOS Recovery is required, please explain the procedure before any destructive action.

The desired result is:

1. Remove the stale internal Trash remnants.
2. Remove the leftover tRash structure if it is no longer needed.
3. Allow Finder Trash to empty normally.
4. Preserve all actual personal data, especially Documents, Music, Pages, Numbers, and other files/folders.

MacBook Air M3, 16gb
I have noticed my kernel\_task at times taking up 4 to 6gb. After a reboot it goes back down to about 60MB but why does it keep climbing. I am not sure if this is happening once I am connecting an external monitor but once I disconnect I haven’t noticed it dropping either … 🤔

We’ve noticed that Mac clutter tends to fall into a few categories.

The Desktop archivist: Everything stays on the Desktop because if it gets moved into a folder, it may never be seen again.

The Downloads optimist: The Desktop is spotless, but Downloads contains old .dmg files, repeated downloads, screenshots, ZIP archives, and documents called things like final-document-3.pdf.

The folder strategist: Everything has its place, apart from one folder called “Sort later” that has quietly grown to 40 GB.

The project hoarder: Every draft, export, dataset, and intermediate version stays because there’s always a chance it might be needed again. There usually isn’t, but deleting it still feels risky.

Honestly, none of these is necessarily a problem. A messy Mac often just means that someone is in the middle of doing actual work. It becomes a problem when you can’t find what you need, or when files from projects you finished two years ago are still taking up a large part of your storage.

If that sounds familiar, the easiest place to start is usually Downloads. Sort it by size, look for old installers, archives, repeated downloads, and large files you no longer recognize. After that, check completed project folders. Keep the final version, source materials, and anything you’d realistically need to edit the project later. The temporary exports and six almost-identical drafts are probably worth reviewing.

You can also check System Settings → General → Storage for a basic overview. If the numbers still don’t make sense, Space Lens in CleanMyMac gives you a visual map of your storage. It’s useful for finding the one forgotten folder buried five levels deep that somehow takes up 30 GB.

Just don’t delete a file because it’s large or unfamiliar. Check what it is and where it’s located first, especially if it’s inside a System or Library folder.

So, which type are you? And what’s the one folder on your Mac you’ve been avoiding?

We’ll keep sharing useful Mac storage and maintenance advice here in r/CleanMyMac.

Most storage problems don’t appear overnight. They build up quietly. One installer, unfinished project, and “I might need this later” file at a time.

A few of the most common examples:

• old installers and .dmg files in Downloads
• exported videos or project versions you no longer need
• duplicate downloads with (1) and (2) added to the filename
• apps you installed for one specific task
• old iPhone or iPad backups
• unfinished projects and intermediate files kept “just in case”
• cache and log files that have grown over time

The difficult part isn’t deleting files, it’s understanding what’s actually taking up space.

A good place to start is System Settings → General → Storage. It gives you a basic breakdown of your storage categories. From there, check Downloads, Applications, Documents, and any folders connected to completed projects.

If you want a more visual overview, CleanMyMac’s Space Lens creates a map of your storage so you can see which folders are taking up the most room. Especially useful when the problem is buried several folders deep.

One important rule: don’t delete something just because it’s large. Check where it’s located and make sure you recognize it first, especially if it’s inside a system or Library folder.

When did you last properly audit your Mac’s storage? What was the most unnecessary thing you found?

We share practical Mac cleanup, storage, and maintenance advice here in r/CleanMyMac. If that’s useful to you, stick around.