Can't move files - The operation can’t be completed because the item is in use.

I was investigating this same problem on our iMac running OS 10.10. When I checked Activity Monitor for the DiskUnmountWatcher process, I noticed that with two users logged in simultaneously, there were two instances of most of the system processes, including that one. If I logged out of the other user account, and consequently only had one instance of the DiskUnmountWatcher process running, I was able to copy multiple files onto the network drive with no problem.

If I were to speculate, I'd probably guess that DiskUnmountWatcher is adding some metadata to new files when it detects them being added to a mounted drive. If there are two instances of the process running, they both try to modify the file's metadata simultaneously and generate errors.

TL;DR: If you encounter this problem, try logging out all users other than the one trying to move files.

I've did a force quit of the DiskUnmountWatcher. I'm still having the same results.

The operation can't be completed because the item is in use.

I'm not sure what else to try at this point.

Evernote Helper seems to have been the culprit for me.

I tried disabling DiskUnmountWatcher, with no success. Then I tried disabling Evernote Helper and I was able to copy files to my network drive. So, if you have Evernote, try quitting Evernote and disabling Evernote Helper. You may have to go to Evernote Preferences and uncheck the box that allows Evernote Helper to run in the background even if Evernote is not running.

When I restarted Evernote, I was no longer able to transfer files to my network drive, getting the same message about the file being in use. I have no idea why Evernote causes this conflict, but I'm glad I found a solution. Hope this helps someone.

All you need to do is go into terminal and type the following:

sudo cp -R folder/* destination/folder/

This will tell you what files are not giving you permission to copy/move.

Then go and change the permissions on those files using chmod. (http://www.maclife.com/article/columns/terminal_101_file_permissions)

chmod 777 is probably the easier way. Then perform the same copy operation again and you are good to go.

The issue began with me when I upgrade to Yosemite (I skipped Mavericks).

Permissions are not the issue.

The entire files copy - completely - then I get the error at the end. If there were permission issues the error would occur as soon as the copy was first attempted.

Permissions are not the issue.

If I keep trying over and over, the file will eventually will copy successfully with no changes to any permissions between attempts. If there were permission issues the copy would never be successful without changing permissions.

Permissions are not the issue.

I tried quitting/disabling DiskUnmountWatcher but that didn't help me. I do not have Evernote nor any EvernoteHelper running. However, these clues about DiskUnmountWatcher and EvernoteHelper may point toward the root cause: "something" is occasionally (randomly?) opening/locking these files either on the local drive or on the network drive. I'll keep poking around to see if I can tell what that "something" is.

My current work-around is to use the "cp" command (I'm not using "sudo" - permissions are not the issue). I haven't received an error using "cp" yet but I've only used it for a handful of files. I need to copy a lot more files before I'm convinced using "cp" is a reliable work-around.

I'll report back when I have a better idea about other processes and the reliability of this work-around.

WHY do I have to use TERMINAL and CP?

I force stopped Diskunmount blah blah blah whatever

I have 10.10.3 and yes, when the file is 1Gb or more, I get can not complete blah blah blah is in use, EVEN when copying the .MP4 video by itself.

this is to a QNAP TS-419P+ and FIRST I copied the folder to my desktop

BUT

when I copied from SDcard straight to a DLINK DNS-323 NAS WITHOUT going to my desktop it went right thru

I mean whats the ******* problem Apple?

need a terminal command to fix it

There is a workaround that does actually work, albeit it it is painful...

I have no idea why Apple hasn't fixed this.

I use SAMBA shares from a QNAP and if you try and copy multiple files to the QNAP then it fails pretty much every time.

the workaround is to create a folder in the location where all your local files are.

Then, move all the files into the folder.

Lastly, drag the folder itself over on to the share where you want to copy it.

Obviously when its gone across you can move the files out of the temp folder you created.

Not ideal but it works every time for me.

Perfect work around works like a treat and now I will be happy as I can transfer to my media network without getting that stupid message... My hat goes of to you.🙂🙂

Great solution. THANKS!!!

MY SOLUTION:

copy entire folder not individual files

Happens regularly to me with files within folders, copying large folders to a different drive. It's not the "file in use" problem, but the "already exists" one.

Only solution I have found is, when wishing to update a backed up folder, make sure the old one is buried down in another folder. I can drag a copy to the drive top level. Then dragging it to copy over the outdated folder asks the alert question and then does it correctly. If I try to replace an old folder with a new one directly I get the same name alert, I click OK, it copies nearly to the end and then says it can't be completed because a file with that name already exists. It's a huge problem doing things like backing up image libraries which are separate folders each containing 30 or 40 gigs of images and project info.

I don't use any of the softwares mentioned in this thread. On BOTH a 2011 MBP with 10.9.5 and a 2008 MBP with 10.6.8.

I've often used FreeFileSync for Windows (here's the link for OS X: https://www.freefilesync.org/), and it does a real fine job.

Doesn't work on SL anymore, though, and that's a shame.

Finally something helped me resolved this issue! Thank you!

Had a similar problem moving files from desktop to a network drive. The "File is in use" message would pop up for no apparent reason - even after restart.

The files in question were all titled "filename.mp4" I simply retitled them by removing the .mp4 appendage like "filename" and the files had no trouble transferring after that.

Don't know if that will work on all file types or in all situations but it seemed to work. Also should note that it didn't happen on all of the .mp4 files I had either.

I'm pretty sure this is caused when attempting to create resource forks, unfortunately apple in its infinite wisdom doesn't provide any way to prevent resource fork creation