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Vincenti41 Author

Level 1

19 points

Finder: How do I fix grayed-out files?

I'm a new Apple computer user with 38 years of Windows experience. I managed to transfer some image files to an external SSD drive and they ended up all grayed out. Can't access these files or view them or move them.

I found a YouTube video that explains how to fix these files by using XCode. But the video is old and XCode may have changed. I can't get into an editing screen that will allow me to do what the YouTube video suggests. I'm supposed to apply "xattr"

Any help to fix these many grayed out files will be appreciated. I've searched everywhere on line without success.

Mac mini, OS X El Capitan (10.11.1)

Posted on Apr 14, 2016 1:33 PM

Top-ranking reply

Richard394

Level 1

13 points

Posted on Nov 4, 2017 9:56 AM

I've had this ongoing problem as well. By accident today I stumbled upon something: It might, apparently, (in my case anyway), depend on the path you choose to get to that file. If I attempt to get to a file by first opening Pages and then clicking Open, I see a list of Pages files, many of which are grayed out (usually those which have been copied and pasted). However. today I discovered if I first open Finder, and then attempt to go to those files, none of them are grayed out.

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27 replies

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,649 points

Apr 15, 2016 1:58 PM in response to Vincenti41

OK, now please do as before, but with this command:

ls -@BOaen

Drag that same file into the Terminal window. Don't type anything. Post the lines of output, if any that appear below what you entered.

Vincenti41 Author

Level 1

19 points

Apr 15, 2016 2:19 PM in response to Linc Davis

com.apple.FinderInfo 32

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,649 points

Apr 15, 2016 2:28 PM in response to Vincenti41

There was at least one more line than that. Please post all the output.

Vincenti41 Author

Level 1

19 points

Apr 15, 2016 2:36 PM in response to Linc Davis

Oops, you're right:

-rwxrwxrwx@ 1 501 20 - 0 Jan 1 1980 /Volumes/SanDisk256/1-1-04 pics 005.jpg

com.apple.FinderInfo 32

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,649 points

Apr 15, 2016 2:44 PM in response to Vincenti41

The modification date was changed to 1980. You don't see that in the Finder, even after a relaunch or logout?

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,649 points

Apr 15, 2016 2:44 PM in response to Vincenti41

The modification date was changed to 1980. You don't see that in the Finder, even after a relaunch or logout?

Vincenti41 Author

Level 1

19 points

Apr 15, 2016 3:04 PM in response to Linc Davis

No. Would it overwrite the original file? The file is still grayed. Yes I did a restart of Finder. I looked down the list and re-sorted by size.

I found one of those exec files (unix executable) at the bottom, also with zero bytes but with Modified date of January 1, 1980 at 12:00 am. It was created at 1:39 pm today and that's probably when I redid your suggestion and did the screen capture I posted. But the file name is truncated to 1-1-04 (no pics 005).

I'm sure this whole mess was created when I turned off the computer while all those files were being copied. Grayed out files are not that rare from what I've seen on the Web. Seems somebody would have written a small utility to deal with it. I've programmed in Qbasic only.

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,649 points

Apr 15, 2016 3:08 PM in response to Vincenti41

Do you have backups of everything on that drive? If so, I suggest you erase it in Disk Utility and restore.

Vincenti41 Author

Level 1

19 points

Apr 15, 2016 3:31 PM in response to Linc Davis

So 18,000+ pictures, showing zero bytes are not actually transferred? They're not salvageable? There's a lot of good files on that drive, but maybe there's room on a 1-terabyte Seagate drive to move them. It will just take a long time to do it (and this time only a few hundred at a time). But that's probably good advice. Thanks.

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,649 points

Apr 15, 2016 3:42 PM in response to Vincenti41

They're not salvageable?

That one isn't.

Vincenti41 Author

Level 1

19 points

Apr 16, 2016 8:29 AM in response to Linc Davis

I'll have to find from where I moved them and see if I still have copies there. At least the file names are there. I'll be back, probably months later. Thanks for your help.

slajerek

Level 1

9 points

Nov 26, 2017 12:21 PM in response to Linc Davis

The fix is simple, you need to understand that after Steve's death Apple is managed by idiots.

Finder: How do I fix grayed-out files?