Cannot delete 'online only' files from trash (Mac)

Question

I have this recurring problem on my Mac where I can't empty my trash properly because of some online-only files that are in there.

When I try to empty my trash, I get the following error:

* The Finder can’t complete the operation because some data in “FILENAME” can’t be read or written.
(Error code -36)

I've also tried undeleting the files and then changing the permissions, but get the following error;

* The operation can’t be completed.
* An unexpected error occurred (error code -36).

This has happened with a number of files, and also used to happen on my old Mac, with a different version of MacOS.

Any ideas?

Jay · Answer

Hi @user19860331, thanks for bringing this to our attention.

What version of Mac OS and the Dropbox desktop application are you running?

If you try quitting the Dropbox desktop application, are you able to delete those files?

Keep me updated with any progress!