Kaelisan

Q: Why is Mountain Lion asking for my password to delete files?

All of a sudden, Mountain Lion is asking for my password every time I want to delete a file. Anyone know why?

iMac (27-inch Late 2009), OS X Mountain Lion

Posted on Aug 17, 2012 9:10 AM

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Q: Why is Mountain Lion asking for my password to delete files?

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  • by mende1,

    mende1 mende1 Aug 17, 2012 9:16 AM in response to Kaelisan
    Level 10 (93,324 points)
    Desktops
    Aug 17, 2012 9:16 AM in response to Kaelisan

    Open Terminal and type:

     

    sudo rm -ri ~/.Trashes

  • by Kaelisan,

    Kaelisan Kaelisan Aug 17, 2012 9:23 AM in response to mende1
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 17, 2012 9:23 AM in response to mende1

    Thanks mende1 but that didn't help.

  • by mende1,

    mende1 mende1 Aug 17, 2012 9:24 AM in response to Kaelisan
    Level 10 (93,324 points)
    Desktops
    Aug 17, 2012 9:24 AM in response to Kaelisan

    When you delete something, is it in Trash?

  • by Kaelisan,

    Kaelisan Kaelisan Aug 17, 2012 9:28 AM in response to mende1
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 17, 2012 9:28 AM in response to mende1

    It asks for my password when I move files to the trash and when I want to empty the trash. Everything in my Keychain Access settings is set to remember my password and my preferences are not set to have to authenticate anything except installing apps, etc. This happened all of a sudden yesterday and I have been using ML since it first came out without this issue.

  • by mende1,

    mende1 mende1 Aug 17, 2012 9:29 AM in response to Kaelisan
    Level 10 (93,324 points)
    Desktops
    Aug 17, 2012 9:29 AM in response to Kaelisan

    Open Disk Utility and repair permissions

  • by Kaelisan,

    Kaelisan Kaelisan Aug 17, 2012 9:33 AM in response to mende1
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 17, 2012 9:33 AM in response to mende1

    Trying that although I used Onyx to repair permissions this morning. FYI, the message I am getting is "Finder wants to make changes. Type your password to allow this."

  • by VikingOSX,

    VikingOSX VikingOSX Aug 17, 2012 9:33 AM in response to Kaelisan
    Level 7 (20,911 points)
    Mac OS X
    Aug 17, 2012 9:33 AM in response to Kaelisan

    If you place a file in the Trash that you do not explicitly own (e.g. a system file), attempts to empty the trash will result in a password prompt. This is a safeguard. Similarly, if you move the contents of ~/Library/Caches to trash and then attempt to empty the trash without a reboot beforehand, you will see that some of the files in the Trash are presently accessed by running system or application processes.

     

    The command-line rm command is for those who have experienced its bite and respect its power. Otherwise, you may wish to just empty the trash from the dock either before or after a reboot -- depending on the Trash contents.

  • by macjack,

    macjack macjack Aug 17, 2012 9:34 AM in response to Kaelisan
    Level 9 (55,699 points)
    Mac OS X
    Aug 17, 2012 9:34 AM in response to Kaelisan

    Choose your Home folder "Get Info" (command-i) and be sure you have "read & write" in the Sharing & Permissions section. Check under "General" section to be sure it isn't locked. If that is correct, launch Applications/Utilities/Terminal and at the prompt copy & paste this command…

    mkdir ~/.Trash

    If you get a message that the folder already exists, copy & paste these commands... sudo chown $UID ~/ .Trash Press return. Enter your admin password (it will be invisible) Press return.Then enter

    chmod u+rwx ~/.Trash

    Press return. Log out and back in, or restart.

  • by mende1,

    mende1 mende1 Aug 17, 2012 9:34 AM in response to Kaelisan
    Level 10 (93,324 points)
    Desktops
    Aug 17, 2012 9:34 AM in response to Kaelisan

    Open Finder, press Option key, select Go > Library, open Preferences and delete com.apple.finder.plist. Finally, open  > Force Quit and quit Finder

  • by Kaelisan,

    Kaelisan Kaelisan Aug 17, 2012 9:38 AM in response to mende1
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 17, 2012 9:38 AM in response to mende1

    Didn't work, mende1.

  • by Kaelisan,

    Kaelisan Kaelisan Aug 17, 2012 9:40 AM in response to VikingOSX
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 17, 2012 9:40 AM in response to VikingOSX

    Thanks Viking...I know all that. This happened out of the blue and I have no idea why. I don't want a workaround, I want a fix and an explanation as to why it happened.

  • by Kaelisan,

    Kaelisan Kaelisan Aug 17, 2012 12:19 PM in response to macjack
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 17, 2012 12:19 PM in response to macjack

    Thanks macjack but that didn't work for me either.

  • by baltwo,Solvedanswer

    baltwo baltwo Aug 17, 2012 3:18 PM in response to Kaelisan
    Level 9 (62,256 points)
    Aug 17, 2012 3:18 PM in response to Kaelisan

    If you're getting the authentication request when MOVING stuff from the root-level /Applications folder or hitting CMD+DELETE after selecting something within, then that's mommy Apple protecting you from yourself. You can solve that by running this Terminal command:

     

    sudo chown -R root:admin /Applications

     

    hit the return key, at the Password: prompt, carefully type in your admin password, since nothing displays on the screen, hit the return key, and restart.

  • by Kaelisan,

    Kaelisan Kaelisan Aug 18, 2012 6:15 AM in response to baltwo
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 18, 2012 6:15 AM in response to baltwo

    Thank you, baltwo! Worked perfectly! No idea why mommy Apple decided out of the blue I need protection but at least it's fixed!

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