Finder hangs when copying files

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4 points

Finder hangs when copying files

Hello everyone, brand new MacBook M3 Pro (Nov 2023) running Sonoma 14.2.1. Whenever I copy a file from one folder to another (on the HD), the window with "preparing to move to ..." just sits there forever with the spinning beach ball. If I click on stop, it changes to "Stopping" and the ball continues spinning... This even for files that are < 1MB, although it does work sporadically (after a 20s wait while it is "preparing to move".

The symptom persists even when booted in Safe Mode and if I try to force quit the finder, then the finder totally hangs and I have to do a hard reboot.

Edit: Same symptoms when duplicating a file...

Does anyone have any ideas as to what is causing this? The 1Tb disk is only 1/4 full since migrating my old Airbook.

Thank you and merry Christmas!

MacBook Pro 14″

Posted on Dec 25, 2023 4:46 AM

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Answer 1

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308Dino Author

Level 1

4 points

Dec 25, 2023 11:21 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Thanks, I had tried Disk utility but it didn't find anything. So, I re-installed Sonoma and started over without transferring files. The system seems to be working ok, so it must be something with what was transferred. I guess that I'll try transferring bits and pieces to see what is causing the issue. I'll post back if I find anything.

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Answer 2

Dec 25, 2023 10:50 AM in response to 308Dino

You should use Disk Utility (preferably from Internet recovery so that the disk is completely free).

Choose 'show all devices' so that All disk data structures are shown.

Run Repair Disk on each in turn.

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Answer 3

308Dino Author

Level 1

4 points

Dec 29, 2023 1:49 AM in response to 308Dino

Ok, so transferring just the user and not the apps or system preferences worked for me. However, that meant installing all the programs manually and digging out the install keys. Not great, but at least it worked.

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Finder hangs when copying files

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