Chris Au

Q: Red minus sign on folders in back ups

Hi;

 

I wanted to retrieve some legacy documents in my Time Machine backed up folders. Many of them show a red minus sign and cannot be opened. The Info panel shows that it has a very small file size and the permissions show that I have no access. But even after changing that to Read and Write, the folder cannot be opened.

 

Have I lost that data?

 

Chris

iMac, OS X El Capitan (10.11.3), 27", 2.7 gHz, 12gb RAM, 1tb HD

Posted on Feb 17, 2016 11:18 AM

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Q: Red minus sign on folders in back ups

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  • by Tony T1,Helpful

    Tony T1 Tony T1 Feb 17, 2016 2:33 PM in response to Chris Au
    Level 6 (9,232 points)
    Mac OS X
    Feb 17, 2016 2:33 PM in response to Chris Au

    How are you accessing TM?

     

    See: Restore

    Restore specific files:

    1. Choose Enter Time Machine from the Time Machine menu Time Machine icon, or click Time Machine in the Dock.
    2. Find the files to restore:
      • Use the timeline on the edge of the screen to see the files in your Time Machine backup as they were at that date and time. The timeline may also include local snapshots.
      • Use the onscreen up and down arrows to jump to the last time the contents of the window changed. You can also use the search field in a window to find a file, then move through time while focused on changes to that file.
      • Select a file and press Space Bar to preview the file and make sure it's the one you want.
    3. Click Restore to restore the selected file, or Control-click the file for other options.
  • by Chris Au,

    Chris Au Chris Au Feb 17, 2016 2:38 PM in response to Tony T1
    Level 1 (17 points)
    Mac OS X
    Feb 17, 2016 2:38 PM in response to Tony T1

    Hi Tony T1;

     

    That worked thanks though I still had to change the permissions to open the folder. But why are some folders protected like that and not others, and also not like that in other time and dates?

     

    Chris

  • by Tony T1,

    Tony T1 Tony T1 Feb 17, 2016 2:48 PM in response to Chris Au
    Level 6 (9,232 points)
    Mac OS X
    Feb 17, 2016 2:48 PM in response to Chris Au

    That I don't know.

    You might want to open Disk Utility and run First Aid on the Time Machine partition.