Unable to enable File Sharing - checkbox

bernuli wrote:

You can turn File Sharing on via command line with

sudo launchctl load -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.smbd.plist

This is a good workaround after security update 2022-004

The launchctl command does enable file sharing, but the File Sharing checkbox remains unchecked. It will get checked after a click, so now it's behaving properly. Well, it can be unchecked, but then it's stuck at being unchecked until you use the launchctl command again.

Picklepot wrote:

On a machine running Catalina...and unable to check the box to enable file sharing. No error message.

Are you logged into an admin account (default) or standard user account?

Set up file sharing on Mac - Apple Support

I would also verify >System Preferences>Security&Privacy>FileVault>Advanced

that you do not have a restriction here:

Picklepot wrote:

On a machine running Catalina

Yes logged in as admin...after posting this, I saw this other thread (File sharing checkbox won't check "on" - Apple Community

) ... and did just do the Security Update yesterday, and of course needed to turn on file sharing today.

What are you saying you resolved the issue or you did not resolve the issue...?

Have you rebooted more than once since your update..

Verify your software is up to date macOS Catalina is current 10.15.7 (19H1922) (May 16, 2022)

>About this Mac

Keep your Mac up to date - Apple Support

Keep your Mac up to date - Apple Support

THANK YOU for this solution. I had exactly this same problem with 10.15.7 fresh install, explicitly set up for file sharing over my network. This problem was extremely frustrating. Your simple solution worked 100%. Thanks.

The above launchctl tip worked for me. That said, for other troubleshooting purposes, I subsequently deleted my copy of the Catalina DMG on my hard drive, I re-downloaded a new copy of Catalina from Apple, I completely erased my hard drive and did a clean install of Catalina, I installed all updates (including the apparently problematic security update mentioned above), and this time File Sharing worked without following the above launchctl tip.

I was fortunate that I was able to do this without any concerns (this was meant to be a fresh system anyway), but for what it's worth, this did work without the launchctl tip. But, the launchctl tip DID work for me prior to following this next step which I did to troubleshoot other problems I was having.

Thanks, albeit that did not work here. A clean install to a brand new disk containing no previous data generated the problem, without installing any third-party software. Worst of all, this serious bug is not new. It has arisen in the past several times with security updates on different macOS versions. Apple should fix it because many users cannot upgrade their Macs beyond Catalina.

You can turn File Sharing on via command line with

sudo launchctl load -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.smbd.plist

This is a good workaround after security update 2022-004

Bug confirmed here:

Cannot check-select-turn on Mac File Sharing on macOS 10.15 Catalina

Cannot check-select-turn on Mac File Shar… - Apple Community

After launchctl command, you need to close and re-open System Preference for the checkboxes to be in sync with current status of File Sharing or Remote Login.

I had this issues after turning AFP on in the Options box. The workaround was susccessful in restoring SMB file share.

Thank you! Worked like a charm!

Update: the issue remains in macOS Catalina 10.15.7 (19H2026). This is really FRUSTRATING. Please, contact Apple to fix it:

https://feedbackassistant.apple.com

This did not work for me ( clean install ) .

What build of Catalina did you end up with?