Can't open file because I don't have permission to view

Hi, this just starting happening with my macbook pro. The files I just tried to open were .pdf files, and I am using foxfire as usual, but now after downloading the file, I just see a box that says that I do not have permission to view the file and it will not open. I did use disk utility to repair permissions and restarted the laptop, but that did not work... Can anyone help me? Thank you.

Back up all data. Quit Preview if it's running.
Hold down the option key and select Go ▹ Library from the Finder menu bar. From the Library folder, delete the following items, if they exist:
Caches/com.apple.Preview
Containers/com.apple.Preview
Preferences/com.apple.Preview.LSSharedFileList.plist
Preferences/com.apple.Preview.SandboxedPersistentURLs.LSSharedFileList.plist
Saved Application State/com.apple.Preview.savedState
Launch the application and test.

Similar Messages

Scanned a doc and got message "couldn't open file because you don't have permission to view it. what should I do?

I scanned a doc into my mac air and I got a message: file couldn't not be opened because you don't have permission to view it. I have done this many times before and never had a problem. What should I do?

cashewnut12 wrote:
Please help. I need to get this work done.
the problem is not solved. I need help
Now that you have marked your question as solved there will be little interest in it and little chance of a solution for you.
Start a new thread, don't mark it as solved until it is.

I can't seem to open (view) my photos. I get an error message that says "the file couldn't be opened because you don't have permission to view it. To view or change permission, select the item in the finder and choose File. Get info."

I can't seem to open (view) my photos. I get an error message that says "the file couldn't be opened because you don't have permission to view it. To view or change permission, select the item in the finder and choose File. Get info." I have never had this happen before? Thanks!

Try the following:
1 - launch iPhoto with the Command+Option keys held down and rebuild the library.
2 - Run Option #1, Repair Permissions.
OT

HT2506 Hello I'm unable to open any pdf's with preview window opens up with message file couldn't be opened because you don't have permission to view it (none of the pdf's have any security thanks if you can assist

Hello this week I'm unable to open any pdf's with preview, when I select to open a window opens up with message "file couldn't be opened because you don't have permission to view it" none of the pdf's have any security thanks if you can assist

Back up all data. Don't continue unless you're sure you can restore from a backup, even if you're unable to log in.
This procedure will unlock all your user files (not system files) and reset their ownership and access-control lists to the default. If you've set special values for those attributes on any of your files, they will be reverted. In that case, either stop here, or be prepared to recreate the settings if necessary. Do so only after verifying that those settings didn't cause the problem. If none of this is meaningful to you, you don't need to worry about it.
Step 1
If you have more than one user account, and the one in question is not an administrator account, then temporarily promote it to administrator status in the Users & Groups preference pane. To do that, unlock the preference pane using the credentials of an administrator, check the box marked Allow user to administer this computer, then reboot. You can demote the problem account back to standard status when this step has been completed.
Triple-click the following line to select it. Copy the selected text to the Clipboard (command-C):
{ sudo chflags -R nouchg,nouappnd ~ $TMPDIR.. ; sudo chown -R $UID:staff ~ $_ ; sudo chmod -R u+rwX ~ $_ ; chmod -R -N ~ $_ ; } 2> /dev/null
Launch the Terminal application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Terminal in the icon grid.
Paste into the Terminal window (command-V). You'll be prompted for your login password. Nothing will be displayed when you type it. You may get a one-time warning to be careful. If you don’t have a login password, you’ll need to set one before you can run the command. If you see a message that your username "is not in the sudoers file," then you're not logged in as an administrator.
The command will take a noticeable amount of time to run. Wait for a new line ending in a dollar sign (“$”) to appear, then quit Terminal.
Step 2 (optional)
Take this step only if you have trouble with Step 1 or if it doesn't solve the problem.
Boot into Recovery. When the OS X Utilities screen appears, select
Utilities ▹ Terminal
from the menu bar. A Terminal window will open.
In the Terminal window, type this:
res
Press the tab key. The partial command you typed will automatically be completed to this:
resetpassword
Press return. A Reset Password window will open. You’re not going to reset a password.
Select your boot volume ("Macintosh HD," unless you gave it a different name) if not already selected.
Select your username from the menu labeled Select the user account if not already selected.
Under Reset Home Directory Permissions and ACLs, click the Reset button.
Select
 ▹ Restart
from the menu bar.

When I try to open images I am getting this message: "The file "image.jpg" couldn't be opened because you don't have permission to view it." "Which I've tried - but it's not responding, plus its with all images now. Can anyone help?

When I try to open images I am getting this message: "The file “image.jpg” couldn’t be opened because you don’t have permission to view it." "Which I've tried - but it's not responding, plus its with all images now. Can anyone help?

Back up all data.
Triple-click anywhere in the line below on this page to select it:
~/Library/Containers/com.apple.iBooksX
Right-click or control-click the line and select
Services ▹ Reveal in Finder (or just Reveal)
from the contextual menu.* A folder should open with an item selected. Quit the application if it's running. Move the selected item to the Trash. Relaunch the application and test.
*If you don't see the contextual menu item, copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C. In the Finder, select
Go ▹ Go to Folder...
from the menu bar and paste into the box that opens by pressing command-V. You won't see what you pasted because a line break is included. Press return.

The operation can't be completed because you don't have permission to access some of the items. ive moved these files from my sd card to the trash, when i take out the sd card the trash empties but then fills up when i put it back in, it wont empty.

The operation can’t be completed because you don’t have permission to access some of the items. ive moved these files from my sd card to the trash, when i take out the sd card the trash empties but then fills up when i put it back in, it wont empty.

In the Finder, press the key combination shift-command-C, or select
Go ▹ Computer
from the menu bar. A window will open showing all mounted volumes. Select the one in question and open the Info window. What is shown as the Format in the General section?

Lion - deleting files on TC - The operation can't be completed because you don't have permission to access some of the items.

I am trying to delete some files from my Time Capsule (2TB) but I keep getting this error:
The operation can’t be completed because you don’t have permission to access some of the items.
How do I solve this?
Thanks,
Jonathon

is the file faded and unable to be opened? i was transferring files from an old external hard drive to a time capsule, it stopped half way through and now refuses to delete the interupted folder because i dont have the correct permissions.

The file "aaa.jpg" couldn't be opened because you don't have permission to view it

The file “aaaa.jpg” couldn’t be opened because you don’t have permission to view it.
This message is coming up every time i try to look at a photo on my Mac . This is new ... does anyone know what has happened?

Back up all data.
This procedure will unlock all your user files (not system files) and reset their ownership and access-control lists to the default. If you've set special values for those attributes on any of your files, they will be reverted. In that case, either stop here, or be prepared to recreate the settings if necessary. Do so only after verifying that those settings didn't cause the problem. If none of this is meaningful to you, you don't need to worry about it.
Step 1
If you have more than one user account, and the one in question is not an administrator account, then temporarily promote it to administrator status in the Users & Groups preference pane. To do that, unlock the preference pane using the credentials of an administrator, check the box marked Allow user to administer this computer, then reboot. You can demote the problem account back to standard status when this step has been completed.
Triple-click the following line to select it. Copy the selected text to the Clipboard (command-C):
{ sudo chflags -R nouchg,nouappnd ~ $TMPDIR.. ; sudo chown -Rh $UID:staff ~ $_ ; sudo chmod -R u+rwX ~ $_ ; chmod -R -N ~ $_ ; } 2> /dev/null
Launch the Terminal application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Terminal in the icon grid.
Paste into the Terminal window (command-V). You'll be prompted for your login password, which won't be displayed when you type it. You may get a one-time warning not to screw up. If you don’t have a login password, you’ll need to set one before you can run the command. If you see a message that your username "is not in the sudoers file," then you're not logged in as an administrator.
The command will take a noticeable amount of time to run. Wait for a new line ending in a dollar sign (“$”) to appear, then quit Terminal.
Step 2
Boot into Recovery by holding down the key combination command-R at startup. Release the keys when you see a gray screen with a spinning dial.
When the OS X Utilities screen appears, select
Utilities ▹ Terminal
from the menu bar. A Terminal window will open.
In the Terminal window, type this:
resetpassword
That's one word, all lower case, with no spaces. Then press return. A Reset Password window will open. You’renot going to reset a password.
Select your boot volume ("Macintosh HD," unless you gave it a different name) if not already selected.
Select your username from the menu labeled Select the user account if not already selected.
Under Reset Home Directory Permissions and ACLs, click the Reset button.
Select
 ▹ Restart
from the menu bar.

Can't move any files... "The operation can't be completed because you don't have permission to access some of the items."

This is a strange one... I just recently did a complete format/reinstall of Lion because of very poor performance after upgrading.
So I'm on a totally fresh system, no TimeMachine restore or anything. I've installed all my apps from scratch - no prefrence file backups or anything. Everything is fresh.
Yesterday I tried to copy a file from one folder to another and I got the error "The operation can’t be completed because you don’t have permission to access some of the items". Checked file permissions... repaired disk permissions... made sure I was logged in as admin (I only have one account)... everything looks good.
This is now happening when trying to copy any files anywhere on my machine... Very frustrating.
There's a couple strange side-effects I've noticed:
- I can move & copy files just fine in terminal... without sudo...
- The little lock icon in the bottom right of the Get Info window doesn't do anything - I can't unlock it. I can still edit the permissions for the file/folder but I can't select the "apply to enclosed items..." option.
Does anybody know what the heck is going on?

jsd2 wrote:
Try creating a new admin user account, logging into it, and then creating some new items on the Desktop and elsewhere. Does the same thing happen there?
Ok the strangeness continues!
I created a new "TestAdmin" account, but it doesn't show up in the Users & Groups prefrences sidebar... The /Users/testadmin folder was created, but the account doesn't show up in the prefrences or login window...
I tried a reboot to see if the account would show up and it still doesnt.... However after the reboot I am now able to copy files again!
I'm paranoid that the problem will show up again since I have no idea what fixed it. I tried rebooting previously after repairing permissions which didn't solve the issue so it's not like I haven't rebooted since it started.
And now I have the issue of not being able to create user accounts.
A little dissapointed with Lion to be honest... the new features are cool but there are so many little bugs it really feels half-baked.

Every time I try to print from word.mac it tells me that it can't save the file because I don't have permission then it closes the file. what do I do?

Everytime I try to print a doc from word.mac it tells me that it can't save the file because I don't have permission then closes the file. What do I do to change this?

If you have problems with updating or with the permissions then easiest is to download the full version and trash the currently installed version to do a clean install of the new version.
Download a new copy of the Firefox program and save the DMG file to the desktop
* Firefox 5.0.x: http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/all.html
* Trash the current Firefox application to do a clean (re-)install
* Install the new version that you have downloaded
Your profile data is stored elsewhere in the [http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_folder_-_Firefox Firefox Profile Folder], so you won't lose your bookmarks and other personal data.

Trying to copy files and getting this error message, One or more items can't be copied because you don't have permission to read them. this is really annoying, can someone pls help..?

i have two network drive and i am trying to copy a file from my mac mini to one of the network drives, but i keep getting this error message "One or more items can’t be copied because you don’t have permission to read them." i have no idea why this is since i have always been able to copy stuff back and forth. i checked my file sharing permissions and it is set to read and write for admin (me), none for everyone and read for guests. can someone please, this is very annoying and this is the second time it has happened to me.

neither move nor copy is working. both way gives same error message. what i would like to do however is move the file. yes i am logged in as a the admin and the issue is affecting not just that particular file in my system but others as well. i looked at get info and no the file is not locked but under permission, it says everyone and read only. it will not let me change this setting from get info however when i look under system preferences for file sharing, my setting is read and write for admin (me), none for everyone and read for guests.

Preview gives error "The file ... couldn't be opened because you don't have permission to view it."

Yesterday I could access all my pdf´s with Preview. Today I get the error "The file ... couldn’t be opened because you don’t have permission to view it." upon opening a pdf file with Preview. All other pdf viewers open the files with no problem.
I repaired permissions with disk utitlity with no success.

I booted into recovery and repaired disk permissions with the disk utility from there. That fixed it. Apperently it repairs more stuff than when you´re booted into the OS. But what an annoying bug, this happened twice to me already by now...

The file couldn't be opened because you don't have permission to view it

Everytime I time to open a PDF file in Preview I get the msg, the file couldn't be opened because you don't have permission to view it. I have checked the GET INFO and all permissions are correct. Does anyone know how to solve this problem?
Thank you.

Back up all data.
Quit the application, if it's running.
Triple-click anywhere in the line below on this page to select it:
~/Library/Containers/com.apple.Preview
Right-click or control-click the highlighted line and select
Services ▹ Reveal in Finder (or just Reveal)
from the contextual menu. A Finder window should open with a folder selected. If it does, move the selected folder—not just its contents—to the Desktop.
The folder you're moving has a name that begins with "com." It is not the subfolder named "Data" or anything else.
Launch the problem application and test. If it works now, delete the folder you moved. Otherwise, quit again, and put the folder back where it was, overwriting the one that may have been created in its place.
Caution: If you delete some or all of the contents of the selected folder, but leave the folder itself in place, the application may not launch. Deleting the folder will cause it to be rebuilt automatically.

Trying to reload firefox and getting this message, when moving to the applications folder: "The operation can't be completed because you don't have permission to access some of the items."

Been having problems with Firefox/internet for several days, and all my updates seemed current. I decided to try to reload and have removed the other icons/download attempts from the app file. When I try to drag the icon into apps, I now get this message:
The operation can’t be completed because you don’t have permission to access some of the items.

* Download a new copy of the Firefox program: http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/all.html
* Trash the current Firefox application to do a clean (re)install.
* Install the new version that you have downloaded.
Your profile data is stored elsewhere in the [http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_folder_-_Firefox Firefox Profile Folder], so you won't lose your bookmarks and other personal data.

Can't save multiple folders to external drive. Get: "The operation can't be completed because you don't have permission to access some of the items." when dragging large folders to mac os extended journalled external drive from OS 10.6.8

Hi
I am feeling VERY desperate!
After losing an external drive [dont ask....] -   I got another one : 2TB WD formatted properly [ OS extended journalled for mac ] ready for action to move my thousands of files and images and ppts in hundreds of folders across from the laptop to this drive because I travel a bit with the laptop and this is too risky not to back up at home.
But this message came up after starting on moving folders across [** and not straight away, sometimes after moving a folder when 4 of 6 gb of files across then the message comes up = very frustrating]:
"The operation can’t be completed because you don't have permission to access some of the items."
I am dragging mixed sometimes large complex folders to this os extended journalled external drive from my mac book pro OS 10.6.8 - it would take decades to move items one by one or even folder by folder and really confusing.
I have dragged-copied various small folders and files across successfully, but it is only working 50:50 and I can't leave machine with the idea of things copying eg: overnight - it just won't work....
I have been browsing google and find some people describing in CODE how they overcome this 'message'   .... but I [and I guess some other viewers of this in future & also in desperation] would need instructions for beginners.... to try this type of thing. I don't know any code.
How can this be happening - I feel ANGRY at APPLE !!!! for not posting easy fix instructions yet re; this, or better still updating software so it doesn't happen [ that I can find at least !!! ] .   There seem to be hundreds of people stuck with this stupid message and inability to back up their projects etc.
Can anyone help ?
Many thanks
Julie
15 August 2011

hi Samberl
thanks a lot for the fast reply.
I was dragging folders from main folders on the laptop-desktop onto the external drive icon - to copy them across....
Your suggestion sounds very promising - I didn't know about 'cloning'.
Yes the idea is to backup the laptop -    I thought I would just move it all now, new - and then keep saving/dragging physically   across to the new drive myself each day or two...
Would this be the sizeof the internal hard drive = c.500 gb ?   =   under the HD icon on desktop is written :
" 499.76gb , 311.5 gb free "
I can erase and start agin on the new external drive - so this plan is to make two partititions, rather than the one at present, and make one of them 500 gb ?
I have found CCC [carbon copy cloner] googling - looks good.
When CCC site says it backs up the hard drive - would this mean all my files [over 100 gb] that are mostly in folders on the desktop, plus the others in itunes, iphotos etc found in the HD icon, would all copy across successfully [wherever they are in the computer ] ?
thanks again, hope you can clarify these things and then I will go for it.
It would be great and amazing if this 'lack of permission' message doesn't show up in the process of doing this ccc transfer - hopeful!
Julie

Can't open file because I don't have permission to view

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for