[Housteau]

I have been using a portable WD Passport HD for backing up some data on my Mac Mini.  I decided to remove some data to create more space on it.  So, I just removed it to the trash can.  However,  no new space was created on the HD although over 200 GB was removed from it.  It still acts and behaves as if all that date was still there, but it isn't.  I am new to Macs and I am very much still learning.  Should I have removed this data in a different way?  How else should I approach this?

[bunnyma357]

When you are in the Finder - go to the FINDER pulldown menu and select Empty Trash - that will free up the space.

Jim C

You can also Right-Click on the Trash Can icon in the Dock and select Empty Trash as well.

[Housteau]

I didn't mention it earlier, but I did empty the trash thinking that even though I had deleted this data from my external HD, possibly it would not show as completely gone until it was off my computer entirely.

[chrisby]

OK, here's an embarrassing question - what's the difference between "Secure" Empty Trash and "normal"

[bunnyma357]

OK, here's an embarrassing question - what's the difference between "Secure" Empty Trash and "normal"

Regular empty trash just removes the file from the directory, and let's the computer know that the space is available to be reused, but until something new is written over it, the old files are still there.

For security purposes, a secure empty trash actually overwrites the data you threw away, so that it is destroyed. More secure, but also worse for data recovery, and more time consuming.

Jim C