> As I type this message in Mail I want to interrupt and empty trash. > Simple you say - click on an open Finder area and make it active > long enough to drop trash using shift, command, backspace - EXCEPT > that no longer works. Mail remains active and trash is beyond > control unless I control click the dock symbol. > > Sure I could quit Mail and make Finder active, but why is that > necessary? Spaces could be the culprit but that is turned off. Thanks to all that offered suggestions. It corrected itself as mysteriously as it came; possibly prodded on by Disk Utility, Disk Warrior, or Divine intervention. Ken Philbrick Intel Mini 1.83/120G/2G ram/OS 10.5.1