Intel MB Air 13” 2020 i5 quad core, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD, Mac OS 14.2.1
When trying to copy the Users folder from the internal SSD to an external hard drive, I get the error message The operation can’t be completed because “Users" needs to be downloaded.
What does this mean?
MacBook Air (2018 – 2020)
Files within your user directory that use the newer [1] APFS File Provider API [2] are likely causing the error you saw originally.
To be able to copy the directory, you would need to ensure that an offline copy of the file is stored on your file system, OR, disable any software using the File Provider API, which may include applications like Dropbox, iCloud, iCloud Drive, Google Drive, One Drive etc. Once this is done, you should be able to login as different user and the copy should work at that point.
I mention iCloud and iCloud Drive as there could be elements of general iCloud syncing for Notes, Photos, Reminders, Contacts, etc. that rely upon the APFS File Provider API, and unfortunately Apple does not publish the specific mechanism that each uses.
It sounds like you've taken care of Dropbox and are on the right track, but you may still have iCloud syncing enabled, in particular photo syncing.
My understanding is that tools like Time Machine are well-equipped to handle the edge cases where other tools, or direct copy and pasting, don't work. For example, with photos, Time Machine will backup the photos themselves but not the photo database, so it doesn't cause errors during the copy process.
Time Machine used to have a static 'exclusion list' you could look at, but according to a post, it has been removed in recent versions of macOS [3] in favor of a separate list for each backup.
** Also as a friendly FYI, attempting to directly migrate user data this way (I'm not sure what you original intention was) can cause issues. If the purpose of this backup/copy operation is to restore the data, I recommend you reconsider dedicated backup tooling like Time Machine, Carbon Copy Cloner, etc. If your backup is not intended to be copied in place to a user account, then you'll probably be OK.
[1] First appeared in macOS 12.1 Monterey, but also later released for macOS 10.15+ (source: https://tidbits.com/2023/03/10/apples-file-provider-forces-mac-cloud-storage-changes/)
[2] File Provider | Apple Developer Documentation
Files within your user directory that use the newer [1] APFS File Provider API [2] are likely causing the error you saw originally.
To be able to copy the directory, you would need to ensure that an offline copy of the file is stored on your file system, OR, disable any software using the File Provider API, which may include applications like Dropbox, iCloud, iCloud Drive, Google Drive, One Drive etc. Once this is done, you should be able to login as different user and the copy should work at that point.
I mention iCloud and iCloud Drive as there could be elements of general iCloud syncing for Notes, Photos, Reminders, Contacts, etc. that rely upon the APFS File Provider API, and unfortunately Apple does not publish the specific mechanism that each uses.
It sounds like you've taken care of Dropbox and are on the right track, but you may still have iCloud syncing enabled, in particular photo syncing.
My understanding is that tools like Time Machine are well-equipped to handle the edge cases where other tools, or direct copy and pasting, don't work. For example, with photos, Time Machine will backup the photos themselves but not the photo database, so it doesn't cause errors during the copy process.
Time Machine used to have a static 'exclusion list' you could look at, but according to a post, it has been removed in recent versions of macOS [3] in favor of a separate list for each backup.
** Also as a friendly FYI, attempting to directly migrate user data this way (I'm not sure what you original intention was) can cause issues. If the purpose of this backup/copy operation is to restore the data, I recommend you reconsider dedicated backup tooling like Time Machine, Carbon Copy Cloner, etc. If your backup is not intended to be copied in place to a user account, then you'll probably be OK.
[1] First appeared in macOS 12.1 Monterey, but also later released for macOS 10.15+ (source: https://tidbits.com/2023/03/10/apples-file-provider-forces-mac-cloud-storage-changes/)
[2] File Provider | Apple Developer Documentation
Figured it out. I deleted the Dropbox folder and the copy was successful.
Actually, it's NOT fixed.
I thought it was Dropbox, but even after removing Dropbox (and all the related support files) I was still getting the popup.
I also got similar complaints about not having permissions or filenames in my Photos Library are not allowed on the destination drive.
Time Machine has no problems doing backups….so why is direct copying failing? What is up with Sonoma? I have NEVER seen these messages before with any other OS version.
Silicon Skipper,
Thank you so much! This is exactly the information I was looking for.
Error: The operation can’t be completed because <folder> needs to be downloaded.
