Macbook Air: file copying gets stuck on "zero bytes" "estimating time remaining"

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Level 1

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Macbook Air: file copying gets stuck on "zero bytes" "estimating time remaining"

My Macbook Air (model mid 2013; intel core i5; 8GB RAM; OS Sierra 10.12.6) is getting stuck on "zero bytes ... estimating time remaining" every time I do a large file transfer (copy/paste) from the macbook to an external WD passport drive, from the icloud drive to the WD passport, or from the icloud drive to the macbook.

I was able to transfer large files without problem up until last week. The only thing that changed is that I turned off the automatic syncing of "Documents" with icloud drive (I don't want to use icloud drive anymore because it's more hassle than help). Therefore, I'm trying to copy my files back from the icloud drive to the Macbook air, and to the WD passport (as a backup).

Any suggestions on how to solve this issue? I don't want to turn back icloud syncing because I'm afraid it will just move the files back up to the icloud.

thanks

MacBook Air 13", macOS 10.12

Posted on May 12, 2019 6:36 AM

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Answer 1

HWTech

Level 9

68,384 points

May 12, 2019 10:54 AM in response to Bagel3

Can you transfer just a single file Ok? If so, just copy the files in smaller groups as it is safer that way if for some reason the transfer fails in the middle, otherwise you won't know which files copied and which ones did not.

Do you have sufficient free space on your destination drives for the files you are copying?

You could also try using an app such as Carbon Copy Cloner to transfer large number of files from the laptop to the external drive.

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Macbook Air: file copying gets stuck on "zero bytes" "estimating time remaining"

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