Empty the Trash automatically after 30 days — via Apple Support

Hidden settinglow riskmacOS 14 Sonoma and later

Files sit in the Trash forever until you empty it, quietly using disk space. This setting permanently deletes anything that has been in the Trash for 30 days, so you get a safety window without the clutter.

Relaunch the app it changes (Finder, Dock…) to see it

The easy way

The easy way: Finder > Settings > Advanced and turn on Remove items from the Trash after 30 days.
Or in Terminal run the command.

Command

Run in Terminal (Applications › Utilities).

defaults write com.apple.finder FXRemoveOldTrashItems -bool true; killall Finder

Undo

defaults delete com.apple.finder FXRemoveOldTrashItems; killall Finder

Deleted items are gone for good after the 30 days, so keep a backup (such as Time Machine) if you rely on the Trash as a safety net.

Sources

Change Finder settings on Mac — by Apple Support
Empty bin items after 30 days — by Yann Bertrand, macos-defaults.com

Source reviewed: 2026-11-02
Link checked: 2026-11-02
Tested hands-on: Not by Oddbyte.Me

Oddbyte.Me hasn't tried this on every macOS version, so keep the undo handy.

trashbindisk spaceauto emptyfinder

Cut and paste files in Finder (move instead of copy) — via Apple Support

Tricklow risk

Finder has no Cut command in the Edit menu for files, which confuses people coming from Windows. There is a hidden equivalent: copy as normal, then paste with Option held down, and the file moves instead of being duplicated.

Keep folders above files when sorting by name — via Apple Support

Hidden settinglow risk

Normally Finder mixes folders and files together alphabetically. With this on, folders are listed first, then files, the way Windows Explorer does it. It can be set for windows and, separately, for the desktop.

Stop .DS_Store files on network shares (faster SMB browsing) — via Apple Support

Commandlow risk

Finder leaves .DS_Store files in every folder it opens to remember view settings, and on network shares reading them slows browsing. Apple documents a setting that stops this on SMB shares, so folders list faster. Windows and Linux users of the share will thank you too.

Empty the Trash automatically after 30 days — via Apple Support

The easy way

Command

Undo

Sources

More in Finder