The operation can’t be completed because an unexpected error occurred (error code -8072).

Question

I am experiencing the following error when trying to copy files.The operation can’t be completed because an unexpected error occurred (error code -8072)This is happening when I try to copy various folders from my internal hard drive to an external drive. It&#x27;s not all folders i get the issue with, and not necessarily very large folders. I can copy a 2.5Gb folder over without an issue but a 700Mb folder has this issue.The other error code I&#x27;m getting is: The operation can’t be completed because an unexpected error occurred (error code 0).After a fair bit of testing i have worked out that this error (0) is happening when I try to copy a folder to another drive where the folder of the same name is already there. As with above though, it does not seem to matter that it is a big or smallish folder or what kind of contents. Most of the support files i&#x27;ve seen in regards to error code 0 seem to talk about the drive being transferred to bing formatted to FAT 32. But this is most defintly not the case with the multiple drives i have tested with on as they are all definitely formatted to Mac OS Extended (Journaled). When i then trash the folder where I am copying to, the new version copies over succesfully (but of course shouldn&#x27;t have to do this with everything i do).Have also used Disk Utility to repair all disks I have tried this with (and repaired permissions), though no issues have been reported to be found.I can probably provide more information, but not sure what is relevant to help at this point.As a bit of a general idea of what i&#x27;m doing though, I have backup drives and every once in a while drag my latest work (folders) to the backups overwriting the older versions. Have been doing this for years and this error is suddenly appearing.Any help would be most appreciated. Thanks.

Ross Lindsay · Answer

To add to this – I have now done a test whereby I have copied one of the &#x27;offending&#x27; folders to a new machine, attached an external drive and copied the folder over successfully, then copied to there again to overwrite it, which it also did successfully. So, I&#x27;m thinking that it is an issue specific to my original machine....

LousyFool · Answer

You are not using Time Machine or another backup or file management solution, no?Error -8072 pops up if you try deleting a folder that can&#x27;t be deleted. I guess the system treats your attempt to overwrite it the same way as deletion.Are these "system" folders, e.g. from some library? Or folders that Time Machine or another app had created previously? Or folders owned by or coming from a different user account?Error 0 can be more or less dramatic. You might have the numbers mixed up, but again, -8072 is "is there, but can&#x27;t be (easily) deleted". 0 can be permission probs, corrupt or damaged file, even damaged sector on disk, but also operations outside allowance or conventions, like max file size exceeded for FAT32, and the likes.Since you&#x27;ve checked disks and permissions - again, I can immediately thinking that you&#x27;re messing with TM and/or other system files, or such that were initially put there by some app, not manually or per "save as..." by you.

LousyFool · Answer

To your addition I may add that you could still have a permission problem on your disk(s). Keep in mind that DU&#x27;s permission repair only affects files that are related to Apple software...

Ross Lindsay · Answer

Thanks for that.I do use Time Machine, but this backs up to an unrelated disk and have not retrieved any files from it.None of the files are &#x27;system&#x27; folders/files and have checked permissions are definitely all attributed correctly to myself. (as far as the Get Info panel is showing me anyway).I have in the mean time been able to locate some errors showing up in console at the point when the (0) error has occurred. See below. The file &#x27;ehs_logo_print.jpg&#x27; is in the folder I&#x27;m trying to copy.____________QuickLookSatelli(1393) deny file-read-data /Users/****/images/ehs_logo_print.jpgProcess:         QuickLookSatelli [1393]Path:            /System/Library/Frameworks/QuickLook.framework/Versions/A/Resources/quicklookd. app/Contents/XPCServices/QuickLookSatellite.xpc/Contents/MacOS/QuickLookSatellit eLoad Address:    0x10b851000Identifier:      com.apple.quicklook.satelliteVersion:         521.1 (4.0)Build Info:      1-QuickLook~555004000000000Code Type:       x86_64 (Native)Parent Process:  launchd [1]Date/Time:       2012-12-17 22:05:21.074 +1100OS Version:      Mac OS X 10.8.2 (12C60)Report Version:  8Thread 0:0   libsystem_kernel.dylib                  0x00007fff8a7e3fee __open + 101   CoreFoundation                          0x00007fff875959a9 _CFStreamOpen + 1372   CoreFoundation                          0x00007fff875b7466 CFReadStreamOpen + 863   CFNetwork                               0x00007fff8b149d4f CoreReadStreamFromCFReadStream::_streamImpl_Open(CFStreamError*, unsigned char*) + 654   CFNetwork                               0x00007fff8b149cff non-virtual thunk to CoreReadStreamFromCFReadStream::_streamImpl_Open(CFStreamError*, unsigned char*) + 135   CFNetwork                               0x00007fff8b122a92 CoreStreamBase::_streamInterface_Open() + 846   CFNetwork                               0x00007fff8b0cc5f5 FileURLProtocol::_protocolInterface_startLoad(_CFCachedURLResponse const*) + 5517   CFNetwork                               0x00007fff8b13d829 ___private_ScheduleOriginLoad_block_invoke_0108 + 1578   CFNetwork                               0x00007fff8b13d75a __withExistingProtocolAsync_block_invoke_0 + 289   CFNetwork                               0x00007fff8b1dc56a __block_global_1 + 2810  CoreFoundation                          0x00007fff87594724 CFArrayApplyFunction + 6811  CFNetwork                               0x00007fff8b13d554 RunloopBlockContext::perform() + 12412  CFNetwork                               0x00007fff8b13d42b MultiplexerSource::perform() + 22113  CoreFoundation                          0x00007fff87576101 __CFRUNLOOP_IS_CALLING_OUT_TO_A_SOURCE0_PERFORM_FUNCTION__ + 1714  CoreFoundation                          0x00007fff87575a25 __CFRunLoopDoSources0 + 24515  CoreFoundation                          0x00007fff87598dc5 __CFRunLoopRun + 78916  CoreFoundation                          0x00007fff875986b2 CFRunLoopRunSpecific + 29017  Foundation                              0x00007fff886fe586 +[NSURLConnection(Loader) _resourceLoadLoop:] + 35618  Foundation                              0x00007fff8875c612 __NSThread__main__ + 134519  libsystem_c.dylib                       0x00007fff8bf67742 _pthread_start + 32720  libsystem_c.dylib                       0x00007fff8bf54181 thread_start + 13Binary Images:    0x7fff87564000 -     0x7fff8774dfff  com.apple.CoreFoundation (6.8 - 744.12) &lt;EF002794-DAEF-31C6-866C-E3E3AC387A9F&gt; /System/Library/Frameworks/CoreFoundation.framework/Versions/A/CoreFoundation    0x7fff886c7000 -     0x7fff88a23fff  com.apple.Foundation (6.8 - 945.11) &lt;A5D41956-A354-3ACC-9355-BE200072223B&gt; /System/Library/Frameworks/Foundation.framework/Versions/C/Foundation    0x7fff8a7d2000 -     0x7fff8a7edff7  libsystem_kernel.dylib (2050.18.24) &lt;C0535565-35D1-31A7-A744-63D9F10F12A4&gt; /usr/lib/system/libsystem_kernel.dylib    0x7fff8b0c0000 -     0x7fff8b234fff  com.apple.CFNetwork (596.2.3 - 596.2.3) &lt;6A16C2BD-1035-30F9-AE96-D9E3BB54A976&gt; /System/Library/Frameworks/CFNetwork.framework/Versions/A/CFNetwork    0x7fff8bf53000 -     0x7fff8c01ffe7  libsystem_c.dylib (825.25) &lt;8CBCF9B9-EBB7-365E-A3FF-2F3850763C6B&gt; /usr/lib/system/libsystem_c.dylib_________________________or thismdworker(7737) deny file-read-data /Volumes/****** Folder/Fonts/TradeGotConEig (import fstype:hfs fsflag:4A09018 flags:240000005E diag:0 uti:com.apple.font-suitcase plugin:/Library/Spotlight/Font.mdimporter - find suspect file using: sudo mdutil -t 423381)Process:         mdworker [7737]Path:            /System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Frameworks/Metadata.framework /Versions/A/Support/mdworkerLoad Address:    0x10e2f6000Identifier:      mdworkerVersion:         ??? (???)Code Type:       x86_64 (Native)Parent Process:  launchd [185]Date/Time:       2012-12-17 16:25:31.351 +1100OS Version:      Mac OS X 10.8.2 (12C60)Report Version:  8Thread 0:0   libsystem_kernel.dylib                  0x00007fff95abafee __open + 101   CarbonCore                              0x00007fff966c2400 FSMount::_openfork(char const*, unsigned char, unsigned int, unsigned short, _filesec*, int*, int*, FSOpenForkInfo*) + 7382   CarbonCore                              0x00007fff966c19e3 FSMount::openforkcoreDefault(unsigned int, unsigned int, char const*, char const*, unsigned int, unsigned char, unsigned char, FSOpenForkInfo*, unsigned short, _filesec*, unsigned int, int*, unsigned int*) + 9153   CarbonCore                              0x00007fff966c1460 FSMount::openfork(unsigned int, unsigned int, char const*, char const*, unsigned int, unsigned char, unsigned char, FSOpenForkInfo*, unsigned short, _filesec*, unsigned int, int*, unsigned int*) + 6884   CarbonCore                              0x00007fff966bffa3 PBOpenForkSync + 4945   CarbonCore                              0x00007fff966bfda0 FSOpenFork + 426   CarbonCore                              0x00007fff9672a22e FSNewMap + 1197   CarbonCore                              0x00007fff9672a11a FSOpenResourceFile + 1128   libFontValidation.dylib                 0x000000010e556b35 FTFontContainer::HasFontsInResourceFork(FSRef const&amp;, bool&amp;, bool&amp;) + 539   libFontValidation.dylib                 0x000000010e556a33 FTFontContainer::FontContainerFromFSRef(FSRef const&amp;, bool) + 3710  libFontValidation.dylib                 0x000000010e559ebc FTFont_FOND::ContainerForFile(FSRef const&amp;, bool) + 27411  libFontValidation.dylib                 0x000000010e559a80 FTFont_FOND::Type1FontContainerFromName(__CFString const*) const + 33812  libFontValidation.dylib                 0x000000010e559325 FTFont_FOND::LookForType1Fonts() + 7113  libFontValidation.dylib                 0x000000010e559fe8 FTFont_FOND::GetIndPostScriptName(unsigned long) const + 2814  libFontValidation.dylib                 0x000000010e552f19 ATSFontTestCreateReport + 123815  Font                                    0x000000010e52cae616  Font                                    0x000000010e52c82c GetMetadataForFile + 40617  mdworker                                0x000000010e2fce4e18  mdworker                                0x000000010e2fb86319  mdworker                                0x000000010e2fc64720  mdworker                                0x000000010e30040421  libsystem_c.dylib                       0x00007fff8ec9d742 _pthread_start + 32722  libsystem_c.dylib                       0x00007fff8ec8a181 thread_start + 13Binary Images:       0x10e2f6000 -        0x10e34fff7  mdworker (707.3) &lt;105316D8-F5DF-3079-96EF-0EF0986EB053&gt; /System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Frameworks/Metadata.framework /Versions/A/Support/mdworker       0x10e52b000 -        0x10e52fff7  com.apple.MDImporter.Font (4.0.0 - 30) &lt;F1249177-78E5-3058-8BD3-957ABF85580E&gt; /System/Library/Spotlight/Font.mdimporter/Contents/MacOS/Font       0x10e551000 -        0x10e5aefff  libFontValidation.dylib (341.1) &lt;0C7B2D05-B747-33DD-922D-020B4F48A6FB&gt; /System/Library/Frameworks/ApplicationServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/ ATS.framework/Versions/A/Resources/libFontValidation.dylib    0x7fff8ec89000 -     0x7fff8ed55fe7  libsystem_c.dylib (825.25) &lt;8CBCF9B9-EBB7-365E-A3FF-2F3850763C6B&gt; /usr/lib/system/libsystem_c.dylib    0x7fff95aa9000 -     0x7fff95ac4ff7  libsystem_kernel.dylib (2050.18.24) &lt;C0535565-35D1-31A7-A744-63D9F10F12A4&gt; /usr/lib/system/libsystem_kernel.dylib    0x7fff9669f000 -     0x7fff969b6ff7  com.apple.CoreServices.CarbonCore (1037.3 - 1037.3) &lt;DF7CABCA-F2CB-345B-8EFF-F0F4E937B7FF&gt; /System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/CarbonC ore.framework/Versions/A/CarbonCore_________________________I suppose if this means there are permissions or corrupt/damaged files, what might be the next steps?

LousyFool · Answer

There are others here, real gurus like Linc Davis, who will probably pull one of his Terminal sudo tricks out of his sleeve, and all will be good, haha. Let&#x27;s see if he or someone in his league stumbles over it...

Ross Lindsay · Answer

Thanks for that. Maybe there is some hope of resolving it then. I&#x27;ll wait and see.🙂

Eric Root · Answer

LousyFool is absolutely correct!Until Linc Davis or another real guru jumps in maybe this will help. If you monitor the "More Like This" box, other threads appear. Opening them usually displays other threads.https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4244086https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3228868

LousyFool · Answer

Certainly well meant, but so I have done (not to mention other sources and Google as well), and maybe the OP, too. Nothing I found that helped in this particular case.About your links:- The first is about "force-deleting" a file per Terminal and sudo command. (a) this is not what this case is about, as far as i understand this one is about copying; (b) WARNING regarding freely using sudo commands unless you know exactly what you&#x27;re doing!- The second is about deleting trash. Again, as far as i understand nothing that poses a problem here, it&#x27;s not what this is about.

Eric Root · Answer

LousyFool - I was just trying to provide some cases with the same error code, hoping it would help.

DBA007 · Answer

I just hit the same error with an external HDD.  Apparently caused by me nudging the cable and it getting disconnected while copying large files to the external HDD.  When I came across this post I noticed mentions of terminal and root magic.  Therefore I tried the following and it worked.1.  open a terminal2.  su - root (you need your root password)3.  cd /the/path/to/thefile in my case is was /Volumes/"Seagate Backup Plus Drive 1"/Oracle/patches/july2015qpd4.  Once in the directory do an ls -lart to find the offending file.  In my case it doesn&#x27;t show up in "finder" but it does in the terminal.5.  After locating the file run "rm -rf filename" to delete the file.Once I did this I was able to copy the file back to the external HDD.