How to permanently delete files or empty your trash bin without waiting for 30 days

I googled "dropbox permanently delete" and the above link was top of the list.

My wife always says I can produce better search results than her, but Im baffled as to how I do it...

As for Dropbox making users have access to less and less in a way to force them to buy a Pro account, they have actually gone more the other way recently - shared folder permissions used to be Pro only, now they are available to Basic users as well. One example out of loads I can think of.

I went in search of how to do this early this morning but found nothing. I went the to forum to search and came across the information in one thread after searching through a number of different threads. Some of the access dates were as recent as May. When I went to the help menu to search for "empty trash" and other variations of phrasing, I kept getting the same threads I had already seen. So, I created a thread for the  answer that I found in case anyone else comes along looking. 

And I expect there might be more people looking to do so since Dropbox is changing so much of how users, especially free account holders, can use their accounts. I know several people who have recently deleted their accounts because it feels like DB is slowly forcing users into having access to less and less unless one holds a Pro account (i.e. one that pays DB money).

The command list with "permanently delete" doesn't come up for me. Instead a pop up box with the file name and an option to restore comes up. I tried two different computers. I am not part of an enterprise or on a business plan with Dropbox. So there is no admin to remove my ability to permanently delete files. I was on the basic plan, but upgraded to pro thinking that might help. But it's still the same. I tried contacting support and just got a generic form answer that had nothing to do with the problem....  Any ideas how I can get this fixed?

Could you pop a screen shot of where you are seeing this Pam?

Also, remember, you need to be ignoring the 'Trash' screen part of Dropbox.

Thanks for this procedure advice. I had 'deleted' several file last week but still got messages that the dropbox was full. My suspicion that the files were still there were confirmed when the option to restore them appeared. When I followed the advice to permanently delete it said 'Are you sure?'  and then "Permanently deleting these items won't free up space".

Hoe then can I clear out unwanted items to give me more space in my Dropbox?

Sorry, the above sounds a little facetious, its not meant to be - read it in more a jokey manner please, thats the intention of the tone.

Mark Mc,  You solved the problem!  I was in the "Trash" screen part of Dropbox.....  It all works fine when I use the trash icon and "show deleted files".    Chalk this one up to user error...

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My case is same as pam w. I tried two laptops and one desktop but no "permanently delete" was appeared. I re-install the updated version still can't help. Can you teach me how to fix it?

Florence, you can't "permanently delete" files from the desktop or mobile clients, only the website - follow the instructions in the link I give at the top and the advice that Mark gives later on.