And you can also quit all the running apps to make sure that the file is no more being used by any of the apps. You should try to close the app that is using the file. If you can’t delete a file and you get an error about “File in Use”, then your file is used by another app. Or you should press Option key while choosing Finder > Empty Trash to force delete locked files from Trash.
To unlock a file, select the file you want to work, hold Alt and Command and I, when the window pops up, uncheck “Locked”. If files are locked, you should unlock them before deleting. When you try to delete or move a file to Trash, fortunately you failed and it said “The operation could not be completed because the item '(item name)' is locked”. Here we list some conditions and solutions to help you delete unwanted files permanently and speed up your Mac. But there are some situations that you can’t delete the file, and you need extra solution to delete. Usually, you can delete files and empty trash on Mac by following above steps. Can't Delete Files or Empty Trash on Mac? 5 Fixes! Want to recover emptied trash, here are the solutions. To use this item, first drag it out of the Trash.' Otherwise, you’ll receive a message saying 'The document xxx can't be opened because it's in the Trash. If you want to preview a file in Trash before deleting, you'll need to pull the file out of the bin and double-click it to open it up and preview.
