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User profile for user: smoothcoffee68
smoothcoffee68 Author
User level: Level 1
4 points

How do I delete a locked file - options greyed out.

Hi. Sometime ago I transferred a pdf file from another of my macbooks to my new macbook.


I've been trying to delete the pdf file but with no success.


I get the following error message.


The operation can’t be completed because you don’t have permission to access some of the items.


I tried the Command I and tried to change the options there but its greyed out. I'm still listed as the admin in the file.


I tried using the Terminal to delete it using the rm command but I get the error messages "Operation not permitted"


Surely, there has to be an easy way to remove a small file sitting on my macbook desktop for months already.

I'm using a Macbook Pro (2018 model) Big Sur



MacBook Pro 15″, macOS 11.2

Posted on May 17, 2021 9:31 PM

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User profile for user: VikingOSX
VikingOSX
User level: Level 10
118,271 points

Posted on May 18, 2021 6:00 AM

There are two lock settings:

  1. The user-settable Lock selection in the Get Info panel
  2. A System applied immutable lock preventing user change in the Get Info panel, and controlled from the Terminal. This will display as a grayed-out Lock selection in that panel:
sudo chflags schg ./foo.txt.   # set system lock
sudo chflags noschg ./foo.txt  # remove the system lock


In older versions of macOS, the System immutable lock would superimpose a small lock on the file icon, but not in Big Sur. Also, in the Terminal, you can see what flags have been set on a file with the following:


ls -Ol ./foo.txt


A user lock will show as uchg and a System lock as schg.


See what chflag(1) is set on your PDF, and unset it accordingly.

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User profile for user: VikingOSX
VikingOSX
User level: Level 10
118,271 points

May 18, 2021 6:00 AM in response to smoothcoffee68

There are two lock settings:

  1. The user-settable Lock selection in the Get Info panel
  2. A System applied immutable lock preventing user change in the Get Info panel, and controlled from the Terminal. This will display as a grayed-out Lock selection in that panel:
sudo chflags schg ./foo.txt.   # set system lock
sudo chflags noschg ./foo.txt  # remove the system lock


In older versions of macOS, the System immutable lock would superimpose a small lock on the file icon, but not in Big Sur. Also, in the Terminal, you can see what flags have been set on a file with the following:


ls -Ol ./foo.txt


A user lock will show as uchg and a System lock as schg.


See what chflag(1) is set on your PDF, and unset it accordingly.

Reply

How do I delete a locked file - options greyed out.

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