I cannot open any files in my MacBook Air.

Hey DM16,

Since no document will open regardless of the app used to create them or if they were created locally or were downloaded. One thing you could do is to boot into safe mode and see if the issue persists. If it does, you can create a test user and see if you can open documents in the test user account.

"Start up in safe mode

To start up in safe mode:

1. Start or restart your Mac, then immediately press and hold the Shift key. The Apple logo appears on your display. If you don't see the Apple logo, learn what to do.
2. Release the Shift key when you see the login window. If your startup disk is encrypted with FileVault, you might be asked to log in twice: once to unlock the startup disk, and again to log in to the Finder.

To leave safe mode, restart your Mac without pressing any keys during startup.

If an issue doesn't happen in safe mode

If an issue doesn't happen when your Mac is started in safe mode, try restarting without pressing any keys.

• If the issue comes back, you might have incompatible login items.
• If the issue doesn't come back, it was probably caused by a cache or directory issue with your startup disk, which safe mode fixed."

Use safe mode to isolate issues with your Mac

Set up users, guests, and groups on Mac

Please don't hesitate to let us know if the steps resolved your issue or if you need additional assistance.

Cheers.

Hey DM16,

If I understand correctly, you are not able to open any documents on the MacBook Air.

Are you trying to open them with Word or double clicking on them?

Are they downloaded from the internet?

Are you able to create new documents and open those?

If you don’t have permission to open a file or folder on Mac

Please don't hesitate to let us know if the steps resolved your issue or if you need additional assistance.

Thank you for using Apple Support Communities. Have a good one.