Compressor fails to render after Desktop access denied

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Level 1

4 points

Compressor fails to render after Desktop access denied

compressor 5.2 had to be updated when loading OS26. When opened, Compressor asks "Allow access to Desktop", a question Ive never been asked before with Compressor, so I answered "no". Compressor has worked without any issues until this. After this it would start to compress a video file and then the file disappears and does not render the new file. When attempting to do the file again, it presents all the possible compressor options instead of just the one I select. Then it does not work again and has an error message for the previous attempt. How do I get that message again to "Allow access to Desktop" or is it a different issue?

iMac 24″, macOS 26.5

Posted on Jun 4, 2026 6:17 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Luis Sequeira1

Level 9

75,958 points

Jun 5, 2026 2:51 AM in response to Forest391

You have denied access to your Desktop folder, so Compressor is not allowed to save files (and maybe even read files) there.

This has nothing to do with Compressor per se, it is a security feature that has been present in macOS for several years now. ANY application that tries to access files in a new location for the first time will get some alert like this. You either allow it or not. Later on you can change that permission in System Settings->Privacy & Security->Files & Folders.

When an application is trusted and, by its own nature, is due to have to access files in multiple locations, the overarching solution is to grant it Full Disk Access in System Settings->Privacy & Security->Full Disk Access. This overrides whatever you set in Files & Folders.

Here is an example. See how Compressor has custom access and FCP has full access.

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Answer 2

Forest391 Author

Level 1

4 points

Jun 5, 2026 6:25 PM in response to Luis Sequeira1

Thankyou very much for this, activating that switch did the trick. I had been using an older OS and it had not been asking those security questions, but I can see why those would be in place now. Thanks for the help

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