Permission to Access Old File

Assuming you have administrator credentials, you can grant yourself access (read only or read/write). Go to "Google Drive" folder and use Get Info to display Sharing & Permissions (see below). Click on the lock to unlock using admin credentials. Click on the "+" sign to add the desired user as read only or read/write. Finally, use the drop-down arrow to "Apply to enclosed items..."

Hope this helps.

- Pie Lover

Hey there!

On another note, if you are trying to access files from within a Time Machine backup, you will have to move any of the folders you need to your Mac, or anywhere outside of the Time Machine backup first. It won’t allow a permissions change from within the backup itself.

Once you move the folders you need over, you can grant yourself full access, using the exact process BlueberryLover suggested.

Hope those help!

I can not write to my external drive that was created on my Dell. I can read but not write. I do not have access privileges. I do not seem to be able to change to read/write or Admin. My Dell my privileges are admin, etc. no problem. I would like to move the data (photos and docs.) to another external drive. I can not seem to address both drives in Finder. Help. Also is there a full tutorial for Monterey on Apple Support or wherever?

How is the drive formatted? If it is NTFS, you need additional software to be able to write to the drive. But I thought you mentioned this being a Time Machine backup, and then it would have been formatted as Mac OS Extended or APFS.

Please clarify. Select tge drive and do a Get Info on the drive itself.

Also, if it is a Time Machine backup, you should not copy the file using tge Finder.

Instead, hold down the Option key, and from the Time Machine icon in the menu bar choose Browse Other Disks (or similar wording, not at my mac to check) and navigate using the TM interface.

Hey there!

I suspect as Luis Sequeira mentioned it’s most likely a formatting issue.

To work best with Windows and Mac, the external drive should be formatted as ExFAT and Master Boot Record. Otherwise as APFS/HFS+ and GUID scheme.

In order for some files to work properly, such as a Photos Library, the drive does have to be formatted specifically for Mac.

But yeah, you can also open Disk Utility from Applications/Utilities.

Click on > View > Show All Devices.

Underneath the external drive section, you can click on both the main external disk on top and then the volume underneath it to see their formats, or as said right click the drive to Get Info will show more.

If the drive needs to be erased to be formatted properly, you may need to move the data off if it to another HD with the same format etc. Hope that helps.