Invisible files

Question

Invisible files

I have files stored on usb external drives that represent decades of data. I bought a mini M2 with newer OS and drive format.

‘I connected the external usb drive, could see the file folders on the first level and transferred the files to the Mini. However when I opened the file folders, they appeared empty, all the files were invisible.

how do I know there was really something there? Because if I get info on the folder, it shows gb of size.

Anyway I can retrieve these invisible files?

Mac mini, macOS 14.1

Posted on Jan 15, 2024 1:25 PM

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Answer 1

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MrHoffman

Level 10

148,701 points

Jan 15, 2024 5:29 PM in response to PastMacTechie

APFS is seemingly not relevant here, as macOS doesn’t reformat drives absent a user request.

If these are HFS+ extended, they should be readable:

File system formats available in Disk Utility on Mac - Apple Support

There was a bug with HFS+ encrypted on Apple silicon with 14.0, but that was fixed in 14.1.

Are you possibly running into a volume ownership issue? Finder > Get Info > check your access

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Answer 2

MrHoffman

Level 10

148,701 points

Jan 15, 2024 1:55 PM in response to PastMacTechie

What is the volume format used in that USB device (FAT, ExFAT, NTFS, HFS+, etc), and can anything else read it?

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Answer 3

Jan 15, 2024 4:42 PM in response to MrHoffman

OS Extended on USB

and of course new format is APFS-

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