I’ve been doing some experimenting with file systems on Linux and I noticed this folder called .Trash-1000 keeps popping up. So that got me wondering what it was and how it worked. I thought it might be like Window’s recycle bin but I was not sure.
Linux’s Recycle Bin
It turns out I was right. This is how some Linux distros handle trash. I’m not sure if this is how all Linux distros do it but I know it is at least on Manjaro and Ubuntu.
How .Trash-1000 works
When I delete a file on my USB drives a .Trash-1000 folder is made. Then the deleted files are moved here instead of being deleted. This way they can be restored like you would do in windows with the recycle bin.
The “1000” is the ID of the user that deleted the file. That way there can be recycle bins for every user on the system.
When you empty the trash on your Linux desktop the .Trash-1000 folder is cleared of the deleted files. But the folder itself is not removed.
Problems
I’ve heard of problems were this folder keeps growing and never empty’s out. I’ve not seen this myself .But I can imagine that maybe it gets out of sync with the desktop trash icon as drives get inserted and ejected.
The Solution
There are 3 fixes for this that I know off.
Delete the .Trash-1000 folder and start over
You can delete the folder when it becomes a problem. But you will need higher level access to do this in Linux. Here is a sudo command you can use.
sudo rm -r .Trash-1000Make a Trash file
Another thing you can do is to make a .Trash-1000 file on the drive. This way the folder can not be made. Then when you delete something you will get a warning that it’s a permanent delete. The folder will not be made and no extra space is taken on the drive.
Use Shift-Delete
You can also delete files and folders with the shift-del key combo. I tend to do this a lot but it has got me into trouble before. I got into the habit of using shift-del then I deleted something too fast without thinking. Then I had to resort to trying to find it on backups. So make sure you have backups.
That’s what I know
Anyway that’s what I know about Linux and its trash folder. I thought it was kind of interesting and maybe someone else will be searching and want to know too.
If you know something I missed please add it to the comments below. Maybe it will help me and others who find this post!
