EJW Tas
Level 1 (4 points)
Desktops

Q: Error message "The operation can't be completed because an item with the name .DS_Store already exists"

Major headaches with copying files and folders between drives. I constantly (and I mean constantly) have to resort to copying files across in small batches (fewer than 10 works best) because anytime I try to copy lots of files and folders from my mac to an external hard drive (or from one external HD to a second external HD), I ALWAYS get the error message  "The operation can't be completed because an item with the name .DS_Store already exists".

 

  • The files and folders are all Mac-generated, so hint or trace of foreign OSs in the mix.
  • All file types are susceptible
  • the HDs are all Mac OS X formatted, no foreign file formats involved
  • the HDs are all journal-enabled, OS X extended formats

 

have looked on here for previous posts, past suggestion was to disable creation of DS_Store files - not really a solution and realistically, defeats the purpose of their creation

 

 

any ideas anyone?

would appreciate any thoughts or sugestions, this has got me beat

 

the context is that I have a lot of image files that I am copying (trying to...) new external 3TB drives for backup and the job appears endless if I have to do this in batches of 10 or so..!

 

 

many thanks for any suggestions

MacBook Air, OS X Mountain Lion, (mid-2012) 8GB RAM

Posted on Nov 13, 2012 10:53 PM

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EJW Tas

Q: Error message "The operation can't be completed because an item with the name .DS_Store already exists"

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  • by gaiagraphics,

    gaiagraphics gaiagraphics Mar 17, 2015 11:31 PM in response to EJW Tas
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 17, 2015 11:31 PM in response to EJW Tas

    Tried many of these solutions, but none worked until I QUIT EVERNOTE.

    This has been an issue for awhile. Now, no problems copying between disks.


    QUIT EVERNOTE and make sure Evernote Helper quits also. There's a checkbox in Preferences you must uncheck to make the Evernote Helper quit when you quit Evernote.


    Vulf     Dec 21, 2014 9:33 AM 
      Re: Can't move files - The operation can’t be completed because the item is in use.  in response to johnny van rocker          

      

    Evernote Helper seems to have been the culprit for me.

     

    I tried disabling DiskUnmountWatcher, with no success. Then I tried disabling Evernote Helper and I was able to copy files to my network drive. So, if you have Evernote, try quitting Evernote and disabling Evernote Helper. You may have to go to Evernote Preferences and uncheck the box that allows Evernote Helper to run in the background even if Evernote is not running.

     

    When I restarted Evernote, I was no longer able to transfer files to my network drive, getting the same message about the file being in use. I have no idea why Evernote causes this conflict, but I'm glad I found a solution. Hope this helps someone.

  • by deadlee_,

    deadlee_ deadlee_ Mar 30, 2015 1:40 PM in response to gaiagraphics
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 30, 2015 1:40 PM in response to gaiagraphics

    I encountered the "operation cannot be completed because a file with the name "blahblah.avi" already exists"......when the file actually didn't exist.  This problem started happening suddenly for some reason.  I have always been able to copy files of any size from my mac to my Drobo.

     

    I read all the fixes and nothing worked for me.

     

    Finally I tried opening a second finder window....so now I have two of them open.  Then I would drag the file from my mac over to the second finder window that was opened to the destination folder on my Drobo and it worked perfectly and quickly.  Now I just open two finder windows and drag and I don't have any trouble.

  • by SW4747,

    SW4747 SW4747 Apr 5, 2015 6:29 AM in response to EJW Tas
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 5, 2015 6:29 AM in response to EJW Tas

    I've been having the same issue when trying to copy files from a external drive onto a new iMac running Yosemite.

     

    Has anyone reported this to Apple.

  • by anandthirunellai,

    anandthirunellai anandthirunellai Dec 23, 2015 9:57 PM in response to rotopenguin
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 23, 2015 9:57 PM in response to rotopenguin

    Using a late 2013 Macbook Pro 15" Retina. 

    I tried copying files from an external Transcend Hard Drive and got the error message "The operation can't be completed because an item with the name Microsoft One Note already exists".  Looks like the Finder bug is still alive and well in OS X El Capitan version 10.11.2!!

     

    Copying through the terminal command cp -r <source folder> <destination folder>  worked for me.  To disable any further questions from Terminal when doing the copy instead of cp -r, in used cp -rf.



     

  • by d_oracle,

    d_oracle d_oracle Jan 3, 2016 5:47 PM in response to anandthirunellai
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 3, 2016 5:47 PM in response to anandthirunellai

    same problem here on macbook pro mid 2012, osx 10.9.1

     

    my solution:

     

    copy the folders, suddenly the error appears.

    copy again, same folders, you get asked "to replace".

    Say yes, replace all and all goes well

  • by Dovey007,

    Dovey007 Dovey007 Jan 25, 2016 4:24 PM in response to EJW Tas
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 25, 2016 4:24 PM in response to EJW Tas

    I need help to because when i go into All My Files a message pops up saying. "The operation can't be completed". Every single time why? it just pops up.

    Thats all it says any ideas????

  • by speeddeacon,

    speeddeacon speeddeacon Feb 11, 2016 5:44 AM in response to EJW Tas
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 11, 2016 5:44 AM in response to EJW Tas

    Late 2011 iMac running 10.11.3 El Capitan. I agree that the Finder copy bug is alive and well. I purchased an external drive to copy my media files from my NAS to take to work.  It's a 1.5 TB Folder with 40,000 files and I get the can't copy because such and such file already exists, including the .DS_Store one from time to time. I'll try the Terminal cp-r or rf tonight when i get home. So frustruating, particularly when using slow, non-thunderbolt drives with files of this magnitude.

  • by Mohsen Eslamian,

    Mohsen Eslamian Mohsen Eslamian Mar 13, 2016 4:18 AM in response to EJW Tas
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 13, 2016 4:18 AM in response to EJW Tas

    Thanks a million. My problem was solved. I used "Carbon Copy Cloner". It was so fast and user friendly. I wish you all the best.

  • by Mohsen Eslamian,

    Mohsen Eslamian Mohsen Eslamian Mar 13, 2016 4:21 AM in response to EJW Tas
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 13, 2016 4:21 AM in response to EJW Tas

    Thanks a million. My problem was solved. I used "Carbon Copy Cloner". It was so fast and user friendly. I wish you all the best.

  • by Parsa-Undead,

    Parsa-Undead Parsa-Undead Apr 22, 2016 1:33 PM in response to EJW Tas
    Level 1 (12 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 22, 2016 1:33 PM in response to EJW Tas

    I had the same problem

    I was able to copy using the terminal command .

    disabling DiskUnmountWatcher through activity monitor worked briefly as well but not permanently.

    Another solution that I found is copying through network !! I copied files through another macbook over network it works fine but works with the network speed which in my case was extremely slow

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