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Possible Duplicate:
Permanently deleting files on Mac OS

What's the Mac keyboard shortcut to rm a file? I know command + delete sends it to trash, but I want to permanently delete it, say with command + fn + delete.

UPDATE: It doesn't look like there is one. So, I want to create a service with Automator and then assign a keyboard shortcut to it from System Preferences.

I can get to Automator -> Service -> Service receives selected files or folders in Finder.app, but how do I write the script that then runs rm -rf #{file/folder name}?

Community
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ma11hew28
  • 709

4 Answers4

4

To answer your edit requesting Automator help:

Use the Run Shell Script action, Pass input as arguments and the following script:

for f in "$@"
do
    rm -rf "$f"
done

You can assign a keyboard shortcut via Application Menu, Services, Services Preferences. It's a bit difficult to assign backspace/"delete" to a keyboard shortcut (see comments on this answer) though.

You can alternatively create an application in Automator, and add a reference to the Finder toolbar (applications can be dragged there).

Assigning a keyboard shortcut using delete (backspace) or forward delete:

  1. Define a simple keyboard shortcut for the service without delete (e.g. Cmd-Ctrl-Opt-G) using System Preferences. Quit System Preferences.
  2. Open ~/Library/Preferences/pbs.plist using Property List Editor and copy the key for the service. It's within NSServicesStatus and looks something like (null) - Service Name - runWorkflowAsService. Quit Property List Editor.

  3. Open Terminal and enter the following command (use the line you copied earlier between the quotes and double-quotes):

    defaults write pbs NSServicesStatus -dict-add '"(null) - Service Name - runWorkflowAsService"' '{ "key_equivalent" = "@\U0008"; }'

  4. Open Application Menu » Services » Service Preferences, and toggle your service.

  5. Enjoy your new key combination.

In the command line, @ is Cmd, ^ is Ctrl, $ is Shift, and ~ is Option. Mix and match these modifiers to your preferences. \U0008 is delete (backspace), \U007F is forward delete.

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Community
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Daniel Beck
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  • Regarding assigning a keyboard shortcut using delete: defaults write pbs NSServicesStatus -dict-add '(null) - My Service Name - runWorkflowAsService' '{ "key_equivalent" = "@\U0008"; }' should work, but (null) (indicating a standalone service, not part of an application) is apparently not a valid key for defaults: defaults[56054:903] Could not parse [the key] – Daniel Beck Dec 15 '10 at 18:52
  • Thanks! I am doing this only for Finder, so it shows up in com.apple.finder.plist. Perhaps I'll change it to work for All Applications. What's the purpose of increasing the number value for NSServicesUserDirectoryModDate? I thinks $ is Shift. What's fn? – ma11hew28 Dec 15 '10 at 19:46
  • @Matt Even if your service is only applicable to Finder, it's key combination is stored in pbs.plist. Fn is not a modifier key. If you want to go on with Fn-Cmd-Delete or similar, this is the exactly same thing as Cmd-Forward Delete. Delete's code is \U0008 above, I don't know the key code for forward delete. If you find it out, just put it into the command line of step 3 and it should work. – Daniel Beck Dec 15 '10 at 20:03
  • @Matt You could try @\U007F for Cmd-Forward Delete, 0x7F is the ASCII key code for DEL. – Daniel Beck Dec 15 '10 at 20:05
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    Sorry, another edit is needed :-) as the following seems to work: defaults write pbs NSServicesStatus -dict-add '"(null) - My Service Name - runWorkflowAsService"' '{ "key_equivalent" = "@\U0008"; }' (Hence: double quotes within the single quotes. Not sure why I suddenly tried that!) – Arjan Dec 15 '10 at 20:57
  • @Arjan Good to know. I'm done for the night (central european time), will do that tomorrow. Not sure it's that much of an improvement here though, I think it didn't work for me without editing the timestamp. – Daniel Beck Dec 15 '10 at 21:03
  • I tested it with my Open Super User example. After using Terminal, each running program needs to be made aware of changes. Stopping System Preferences, opening it again and disabling and re-enabling the service did the trick. Maybe there's some command line option for that too. Unfortunately, for Delete the Keyboard section only shows "⌘", not "⌘⌫" in the Shortcuts... :-( – Arjan Dec 15 '10 at 22:17
  • (And $ is Shift.) – Arjan Dec 15 '10 at 22:59
  • @Matt I edited to post after I verified that \U007F is indeed forward delete (i.e. Fn+Delete). You specifically want to use "@\U007F" for Cmd-Fn-Delete. – Daniel Beck Dec 16 '10 at 05:29
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See this MacGeekery post.

Matt Ball
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1

I'm not sure what the keyboard shortcut is or even if it exists but you can run an applescript that will permanently delete files. Here's a link with instructions http://macphobia.com/deleting-an-item-windows-and-mac.macphobia

user59325
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0
set txt to ""
tell application "Finder"
    repeat with f in (get selection)
        set txt to txt & quoted form of POSIX path of (f as text) & " "
    end repeat
end tell
set cmd to "rm -rf " & txt
display dialog cmd & "?"
do shell script cmd

You can use FastScripts (or for example Keyboard Maestro) to assign a shortcut that's only available in Finder.

Lri
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