Couldn't communicate with helper application AND Error 36 issues

Many files on my iMac (late 2019) will not open in their apps. This began about 7 days ago.

This applies to MS Office 365 (Excel, Word), AND also applies to text documents, images (screenshots); in fact, most files.

A few days before this problem began I upgraded OS from 11 to 12 (Monterey).

I also removed XCode because I didn't use it.

A few days after these changes, I started having the problems:

"The Finder can't complete the operation because some data in "file_name" can't be read or written (Error code -36)"

My guess is my removal of Xcode caused the problem.

NOTE: my removal of Xcode consisted of deleting any file with "xcode" in the title.

I have back-ups (Time Machine & a weekly external drive back-up).

Sometimes, after running the Cocktail app, the issue goes away for couple hours, but then same problems re-occur.

I don't find much data on the web about this issue, so I assume it's a unique problem

iMac 21.5″, macOS 12.1

Posted on Jan 3, 2022 1:39 PM

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Community Specialist

Posted on Jan 4, 2022 1:34 PM

Thanks for visiting the Apple Support Communities, theophilus_,

If we understand, you removed all file with Xcode in the title and now are having trouble opening certain files. We're happy to help!

Based on what you've described, we would recommend reinstalling the Xcode files from your Time Machine backup and seeing if the issue is resolved: Recover files using Time Machine and Spotlight on Mac - Apple Support. If that does not work, try restoring the full Time Machine backup from macOS recovery: Restore your Mac from a backup - Apple Support.

Have a wonderful day!

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