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Bug 580168 - "Empty Trash" leaves unneeded .Trash folder on ext drives
"Empty Trash" leaves unneeded .Trash folder on ext drives
Status: RESOLVED OBSOLETE
Product: nautilus
Classification: Core
Component: Trash
2.24.x
Other All
: Normal minor
: ---
Assigned To: Nautilus Maintainers
Nautilus Maintainers
: 736707 (view as bug list)
Depends on:
Blocks:
 
 
Reported: 2009-04-24 20:15 UTC by B Smith
Modified: 2021-06-18 15:51 UTC
See Also:
GNOME target: ---
GNOME version: 2.23/2.24



Description B Smith 2009-04-24 20:15:42 UTC
Please describe the problem:
There has been a long-standing discussion about how to handle deleted files on external drives, e.g. USB flash drives.  The current 'solution' has been to create a .Trash folder as-needed when someone deletes a file, then prompt them to Empty Trash when they unmount the drive.

The problem is that the .Trash folder gets left on the drive, and this folder is not hidden on Windows systems.

Steps to reproduce:
1. mount a flash drive
2. delete all files from it
3. unmount the drive
4. when prompted "Empty Trash?" answer Yes
5. mount the drive on a Windows system

Actual results:
Even though you thought the drive was empty, it will still have a .Trash folder

Expected results:
When I delete all files, I expect the drive to be empty.  Even if I only delete some files, as long as I choose to Empty Trash I don't expect there to be a .Trash folder.

I realize there's a need for this folder sometimes, but if the system (Gnome/Nautilus) created it then it should also be able to remove it when it's no longer needed.

Does this happen every time?
Yes

Other information:
I realize this is strictly cosmetic but the previous discussions make it clear that a lot of people don't expect this behaviour (nor do I).  And since it's such a simple thing to fix, I hope it will be.
Comment 1 Berend De Schouwer 2015-04-13 10:15:03 UTC
There are some usb storage devices that don't ignore '.trash', which can have unexpected results, example: my car's usb storage.
Comment 2 Alexandre Franke 2015-06-08 15:56:52 UTC
*** Bug 736707 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
Comment 3 André Klapper 2021-06-18 15:51:58 UTC
GNOME is going to shut down bugzilla.gnome.org in favor of gitlab.gnome.org.
As part of that, we are mass-closing older open tickets in bugzilla.gnome.org
which have not seen updates for a longer time (resources are unfortunately
quite limited so not every ticket can get handled).

If you can still reproduce the situation described in this ticket in a recent
and supported software version of Files (nautilus), then please follow
  https://wiki.gnome.org/GettingInTouch/BugReportingGuidelines
and create a new ticket at
  https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/nautilus/-/issues/

Thank you for your understanding and your help.