File "Can't be Found" prompts after Ventura 13.1

I'm seeing similar behavior with Ventura 13.1 when opening files on an SMB server. A file can be opened, but if you close that file and move it to a different directory/subdirectory then the "(Filename) can't be found" message appears.

Give this a try: boot into Safe Mode according to How to use safe mode on your Mac and test to see if the problem persists. Reboot normally and test again.

NOTE 1: Safe Mode boot can take up to 3 - 5 minutes as it's doing the following; 

• Verifies your startup disk and attempts to repair directory issues, if needed

• Loads only required kernel extensions (prevents 3rd party kernel/extensions from loading)

• Prevents Startup Items and Login Items from opening automatically

• Disables user-installed fonts 

• Deletes font caches, kernel cache, and other system cache files

NOTE 2: if you have a wireless keyboard with rechargeable batteries connect it with its charging cable before booting into Safe Mode. This makes it act as a wired keyboard as will insure a successful boot into Safe Mode.

Ive just tried the following on request of apple support and I cannot now recreate the problem.

Rebuild the Spotlight index on your Mac - Apple Support

I did this with the download folder which is where I originally saw the problem.

Does this fix it for anyone else?

I have the "file not found" happen fairly frequently, though unpredictably. My data is on an external drive. I have been unable to get Spotlight to index three folders (out of about 13 folders) no matter what I try (see 254785526). Has anyone else with the "file not found" problem had issues with Spotlight indexing?

So with me this did not go away, certainly with the already double clicked files then it did. But as soon as they are moved again or renamed it came back.

Even on a new vanilla system, or save boot with no extra stuff installed: it will happen.

I have reproduced it with a support staff long and detailed. it occurs 100% always if you try this example:

1. create three screenshots.
2. mark these 3 pictures, right mouse button, new folder with selection
3. then rename the newly created folder, to "project X" or "images" or what ever
4. Go into the folder on your desktop and try to open the files.

You will get this pop up with can't be found for every single file at the first time I you double click.

I have recorded this with support and Apple Capture Data app now and hopefully will get information soon what the problem is.

Anyway, I also went to an Apple Store and was able to reproduce it there on every computer with 13.2.1 that I could use (Macbook pro, iMac, Mac Studio). Even the employee looks surprised.

It seems to be somehow only people who need the Macs for surfing or watching videos and no longer for real work with a lot of files and data organization :-P

Anyway, the popup annoys me dozens of times a day and I seriously wonder why no one internally at Apple notices.

Do they not work with files and Folders and move them sometimes, or rename them sometimes?

Anyway, I'm glad that it also affects all M1/M2 machines I could test and not just Intel old-timers like me. Hope this gets fixed soon. Last time I found a Bug in Quicklook with the huge red areas poping up, if you use an AMD card, and it took apple 1,5 years to correct it(Big Sur and Monterey affected, and often to see if you turn off transparency in accessibility settings). really hoping this is not taking so long.

For me this is happening on a new Mac that came with Ventura 13.2.1. If I move a folder to another location, none of the moved files within that folder can be opened. I have to cmd+z, make a new folder with the same name in the target location, and then move the files. After that they can be opened. The "file not found" error also occurs at random times when opening a file in the finder. In that case, double clicking the same file a second time will open it. This all occurs on the local disk. I wonder if this is a Finder bug or an APFS bug. I also wonder if file corruption is a possibility. I'll reiterate that this is a brand new Mac.

MBP 16.2 SG/12C CPU/38C GPU/64GB/4TB/KB-US

MacOS 13.2.1

It happends on macOS Sonoma 14.1 again!!! OMG it's anoyyning.

I have the exact same problem. But this was after I did boot in safe mode for another issue.

I've had this new MacBook Pro for 4 days.

Just upgraded to Ventura 13.1 yesterday.

I did a repair disk, and restart. It seemed to go away after that, but of course it came back. This is ridiculous.

I have the same problem, just local files, no network storage or anything attached then my monitor. these popups are annoying. i have done several reboots also in safe mode, disk repair from the recovery, nothing helped. So i was downgrading back to monterey and hope that more people here point out that there is a problem in this OS 13,1 version. Or it is again some special intel thing, and m1 works? Because of the focus from the developers just to do new stuff to run best on m1...

Mac Pro (2019)

3,3 GHz 12-Core Intel Xeon W | 96 GB RAM

2 MPX AMD Radeon Pro Vega II Duo 32 GB

Thanks for your post, troyjack. The exact same thing is going on here, Mac Studio, Ventura 13.1.

It is becoming increasingly annoying. One thing I also noticed was that right-clicking and selecting "Open" consistently worked on the first try (I tested this with numerous files, but maybe not enough?). Nevertheless, this is something I wish Apple would address sooner than later. It is unfortunate that double-clicking is not a reliable way to open files; quite annoying. I much prefer to double-click instead of the right-click method. I think most, if not all, Ventura users would agree. Anyway, has anybody heard anything from Apple about this issue?

Thanks.

Troyjack,

I have the same Mac as you and the same issue. None of the trouble shooting repairs below help. However, if I drag the non-opening file to the desktop, then drag it back to its original location, the problem is fixed. Really seems like an OS bug to me.

Yup. Must be an OS issue. Unfortunately, I'm not sure the solution will be coming quickly. Possibly with the next OS update? I hope Apple is listening. I did find similar posts as far back as Big Sur. Please Apple.

yes, but i did a clean install of monterey (boot from a usb drive, need to set recovery security to allow external drives) and had to reinstall all software. My Data was on a external backup. So make sure you don't lose anything. No Problems so far on my Mac Pro. But it was just so annoying that I decided to go this way. Now I look first that I get my work done before I update anything again.

I'm glad that seemed to work, but it's crazy that one should have to go through that. If mine keeps doing this I guess I'll have to call again or do what you did but I wish they would just resolve this.

Have been using Ventura 13.2 for three days, and tried to replicate the error, but no problem at all. All working fine. 👍

FYI, this is on a MacBook Pro 2018 with Intel i5. I was only getting the error message on Dropbox folders fully synced locally (i.e. available offline on Finder), when trying to open files that had been moved/changed/renamed. Opening the same file a second time didn't give the error message.

Before the upgrade to Ventura 13.2 I also reindexed the entire SSD on Spotlight (I was also having problems searching within a folder in Finder). That and a restart might help. And maybe a pass with Onyx to check for disk/indexation errors wouldn't hurt.

My two cents.