Can't access the Applications folder

Has anybody solved this issue yet? I've just got a replacement macbook, restored it from time machine, and the applications folder is greyed out, seems to be no solution!

here's the fix. rename apps folder, create a new one, move the contents inside it

open Terminal

cd /

sudo mv Applications ApplicationsOld

mkdir Applications

sudo mv /ApplicationsOld/* /Applications

I had exactly the same problem, which occurred after I had to restore my iMac from my MacBook Pro after the iMac went down and the Time Machine backup failed to work. Fortunately I sync all my documents between the iMac and the MacBook Pro. I think I used Migration Assistant rather than Setup Assistant, which may account for the problem as Migration Assistant is known to cause permissions problems in some cases.

I can confirm that the creation and modification dates of the damaged Applications folder are 24 January 1984 while the Applcations folder on the MacBook Pro has a creation date of 24 April 2012.

Dan's method using Terminal worked with one modification: I needed to enter

sudo mkdir Applications

because I got an error message that I didn't have permission to mkdir Applications. So the correct sequence, for me at least, is

open Terminal

cd /

sudo mv Applications ApplicationsOld [enter password when prompted]

sudo mkdir Applications

sudo mv /ApplicationsOld/* /Applications

Same problem. Tried Dan's method, then yours. Both come up with:

Johns-MacBook-Pro:~ Nick$ cd /

Johns-MacBook-Pro:/ Nick$ sudo mv Applications ApplicationsOld

sudo: unable to stat /etc/sudoers: Permission denied

sudo: no valid sudoers sources found, quitting

Any ideas?

Post the results from this:

ls -al /etc/ |grep sudoers

Ian's modification of Dan's procedure worked perfectly!

For context, I opened up the computer this morning and MacOS 10.8.5 was no longer functional. The computer opened to a help screen and forced me to reinstall the OS from a downloaded App Store version. Luckily I have Time Capsule and it then proceed to reinstall everything from my latest backup. In the wake of this stupidity, which I have not seen since my System 7 days, my Applications folder was grayed out.

Great solution!

Dan's solution worked for me as well.

I am running Mavericks 10.9, using an external drive.

The management app for my external raid messed up the permissions on a folder.

Using the terminal commands:

cd /Volumes/Pegasus/accounts

sudo mv <account folder> <account folder>Old

<enter password>

sudo mkdir <account folder>

sudo mv <account folder>Old/* <account folder>/.

Then using the normal finer window <get info> to reassign the proper permissions solved my folder access problems as well.

Kudos!

the file coping breaked. so the folder keep grey.

just change the date of the folder, the it get out the middle coping status.

sudo SetFile -d 11/02/2014 /Applications/

Hey suchao,

Your fix worked for me. Only thing is, Terminal asked me to download X11 Developer tools, but once that was done I entered the line on terminal and my Applications came back. Thank you!

I realize this thread is a few years old, but I had the same issue and I actually went to an Apple Store and talked to a "Genius." He told me absolutely do not ever touch the terminal code -you are messing with the operating system and unless you really truly know what you're doing you could totally eff things up. After trying a couple of things he told me to reinstall the operating system, and low and behold I can once again view the contents of my applications folder.

Dan Boujoulian - Perfect! The Genius Bar rebuilt my computer and I've been seeing this behavior since - thank you for this simple solution! Worked like a charm!

This just happened to me as well. It was caused by restoring from a Time Machine backup. Apple ought to fix this. The problem is that the creation date on the Applications folder is corrupt. You can see it by typing this in the Terminal:

GetFileInfo /Applications

In my case the creation date was "01/24/1984 03:00:00"

You can fix it by grabbing the date off a good folder and typing this in the Terminal:

sudo SetFile -d "08/25/2014 14:17:31" /Applications

The date I used above was from the folder /Users.

I am horrified that "Reinstall your system" was the Genius bar solution. This takes about one millionth the amount of time.

@ suchao This solves my problem. The date was incorrect.

@Mystigo:

I followed your instructions to a T and it worked for me. Thanks!

That did not work for me. I also used the terminal and chmod to set the permissions exactly like another Mac where the Applications folder works as expect.