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Getting rid of unwanted files.
Why empty the Trash or Recycle Bin?

Getting rid of unwanted files.

As you create and edit files and folders you'll want to get rid of files and folders.

There are three basic ways to get rid of files and folder:

1) Press and Drag

In the desktop or directory windows, make sure that the icon(s) of what you want to get rid of an the icon of the Recycle Bin (Windows) or Trash icon (Macintosh) are both visible.
Drag the icon(s) of the stuff you want to get rid of on top of the Recycle Bin or Trash. let up on the mouse at that point and your selected items will disappear, that is, they will go into the Recyle Bin or Trash.
Then Empty the Recyle Bin or Trash.

Note that this last is a spereate step. Moving stuff into the Recyle Bin or Trash does not delete those files or folders.

2) Use the File menu

Select the item(s) you want to get rid of.
Call down the File menu to Move to Trash (on Macintosh) or Delete (on Windows).
Then Empty the Recyle Bin or Trash.

Windows note: This tactic will work for icons of folders and / or files within directory windows but not with the desktop itself.

3) Use a Right click or Control Click

Select the item(s) you want to get rid of.
With the pointer over the icon of one of the selected items, call up the Click Menu and go to Delete. This will move those item(s) into the Recyle Bin or Trash
Then Empty the Recyle Bin or Trash.

You can get what I call a Click Menu by, in the case of Macintosh, holding down the Control key on the keyboard and then clicking the mouse. In the case of Window OS computers, do a Right click with the two button mouse to get a Click Menu.

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Why empty the Trash / Recycle Bin?

You may notice that all my insructions above mention emptying the Recyle Bin or Trash as a separable step. This is not an accident. YOu need to do this because both the Mac and Windows systems require you to do this. (You can think of this as taking out the garbage after you put something in the garbage. ;-)

Until you empty the Recyle Bin or Trash anything you put in there remains avaialble to you. Should you need to get it out.

To empty the Trash on a Macintosh, call down the Special menu in the Finder and execute the Empty Trash menu item. To empty the Recycle Bin on a Windows computer, do a Right Click on the trash icon and go to Empty Trash menu command.

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