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

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

I have two Dropbox accounts (linked), which I can view online. For my personal account I can permanently delete as described. For my corporate account, the "permanently delete" option is missing, only "restore" is visible in the same menu. The files are not shared, only I have access. What is this about?