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No permission to access my own files.

After my MacBook Pro updated to bid Sur many of my programs now say they cannot complete an operation or open a file because I do not have the correct permission. I am the owner and sole user and I did have full permissions on everything before. Disk utility didn't fix it and none of the online help instructions worked.

what can I do? Will Apple release a fix?


MacBook Pro 15″, macOS 11.1

Posted on Jan 20, 2021 5:47 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jan 20, 2021 6:49 AM

Apps are required to request access to your Documents, Downloads, and other folders they do not own themselves.

If they are not requesting access, you should contact the developer to have them update their apps to work correctly.

What can I do?

You may be able to add the apps to Full Disk Access in the Privacy tab of Security & Privacy system preferences.

and none of the online help instructions worked.

Not particularly useful as we will just end up suggesting things you may have already tried.

Will Apple release a fix?

There is nothing that needs to be fixed except the apps that are not properly protecting your data.

and sole user

No, you're not. There are many users and processes that handle very specific tasks with extremely limited privileges to make it difficult to hack your Mac. You are apparently connected to the internet, so you better hope there are other users with extremely limited access rights handling tasks related to communications on the network.

1 reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jan 20, 2021 6:49 AM in response to haventherapies

Apps are required to request access to your Documents, Downloads, and other folders they do not own themselves.

If they are not requesting access, you should contact the developer to have them update their apps to work correctly.

What can I do?

You may be able to add the apps to Full Disk Access in the Privacy tab of Security & Privacy system preferences.

and none of the online help instructions worked.

Not particularly useful as we will just end up suggesting things you may have already tried.

Will Apple release a fix?

There is nothing that needs to be fixed except the apps that are not properly protecting your data.

and sole user

No, you're not. There are many users and processes that handle very specific tasks with extremely limited privileges to make it difficult to hack your Mac. You are apparently connected to the internet, so you better hope there are other users with extremely limited access rights handling tasks related to communications on the network.

No permission to access my own files.

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