Documents & Desktop folders not readable via filesharing (folders visible, zero byte content within) - all other Home directory folders visible

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Documents & Desktop folders not readable via filesharing (folders visible, zero byte content within) - all other Home directory folders visible

I'm trying to figure out why I can't read my Documents nor my Desktop folder when I'm connected via filesharing to my Mac. Filesharing is turned on, and all other folders in the Home directory are accessible. I just upgraded to Catalina, but I'm not sure if this was happening before.

From another Mac or a PC, I can connect to my iMac (connecting using my username and password) and I can see all the directories in my home folder. I can open and browse all folders EXCEPT for the Documents and Desktop folders -- the folders themselves are visible but when I click into them, they show as zero items (when there's > 1 TB of stuff in Documents, and lots of files on the Desktop).

I confirmed my file permissions for those folders are correct (myusername = read/write) and for good measure I also went to the home folder and applied permissions to all enclosed items. Still no access to these 2 folders on any connected computer, other folders are OK.

I confirmed I have SHUT OFF iCloud Documents and Desktop. I even toggled it on and off again. No luck.

Is there something unique about the Documents and Desktop folders that prevent me from seeing them even if I'm logged into the Mac using my admin account username/password?

Edit: this also affects the Downloads directory in the same way, yet Dropbox and others are OK. Seems to be related to default Mac OS directories for some reason...

Posted on Jan 27, 2020 9:13 PM

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Answer 1

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SteveW25561 Author

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Jan 27, 2020 10:53 PM in response to SteveW25561

OK, I fixed it! I saw a screenshot somewhere that had SMBD in the Files and Folders privacy section.

Turns out I needed to toggle OFF then back ON file sharing - this then added smbd to the "Files and Folders" Privacy preference pane.

When I migrated to Catalina via a fresh install then Migration assistant, it kept the File Sharing activated but neglected to add smbd to the privacy preferences! Other non-default folders weren't protected in the same way - argh!

Now, I have the expected behaviour back.

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Answer 2

SteveW25561 Author

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Jan 27, 2020 10:34 PM in response to SteveW25561

I looked again and I can't access the following folders in home (despite being logged in as my username):

Applications, Desktop, Documents, Downloads, Library, Movies, Music, Pictures, Sites.

All of these look like the default directories in the base install (although I've had this computer for years, with gigabytes of data in these directories). I re-applied permissions using the instructions at https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203538 - “Apply to enclosed items.” trick for the Home directory and rebooted, but no dice.

I also used the terminal command

diskutil resetUserPermissions / `id -u`

No luck.

Now after doing the above, a Get Info, under Sharing and Permissions, shows:

myusername (Me): Read & Write

everyone: No Access

Yet, other directories that are accessible (which were all made by me or apps like Dropbox) all show this under Permissions:

myusername (Me): Read & Write

staff: Read only

everyone: Read only

I manually changed Downloads for example to:

myusername (Me): Read & Write

everyone: Read & Write

but I still can't access it via file sharing.

This has got to be a permissions thing but I can't figure out how to fix it. Why can't I access those special folders if I am logged in as "myusername" since they all show as "read/write" permissions?

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Documents & Desktop folders not readable via filesharing (folders visible, zero byte content within) - all other Home directory folders visible

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