Sometimes I lose the ability to open folders from within finder.

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Level 1

4 points

Sometimes I lose the ability to open folders from within finder.

System: Mac Mini 2018

OS: Ventura 13.6.4

It seems to be happening more and more where I will open finder and double click on a folder, for example, Documents and it doesn't open. The size is listed as 0KB. I can open a terminal and navigate to it and do an ls and everything is there, just I can not access it at all from Finder or any other application. I have seen this happen to many folders, the latest is Documents, but Downloads and folders in my Favorites will not open. If I reboot my system, things work fine for a while, and then it happens. I would estimate it happens once a month.

I have searched and everything I found states its a permission issue, but if that were the case, rebooting would not fix it.

Any idea why and what I can do to fix it rather than rebooting my system each time.

thanks

Posted on Nov 2, 2024 8:19 PM

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Answer 1

Old Toad

Level 10

210,615 points

Nov 3, 2024 10:26 AM in response to owensieber

That's a first. Haven't seen that problem before. Give this a try: boot into Safe Mode according to How to use safe mode on your Mac and test to see if the problem persists. Reboot normally and test again.

NOTE 1: Safe Mode boot can take up to 3 - 5 minutes as it's doing the following;

• Verifies your startup disk and attempts to repair directory issues, if needed

• Loads only required kernel extensions (prevents 3rd party kernel/extensions from loading)

• Prevents Startup Items and Login Items from opening automatically

• Disables user-installed fonts

• Deletes font caches, kernel cache, and other system cache files

NOTE 2: if you have a wireless keyboard with rechargeable batteries connect it with its charging cable before booting into Safe Mode. This makes it act as a wired keyboard as will insure a successful boot into Safe Mode.

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