I wan't to copy a file/folder from "Downloads" to an external drive so I can plug it into my PC but this keeps giving me the Circle-Bar symbol and nothing happens.
What is the trick?
MacBook Pro with Retina display
The ownership and or permissions/privileges on the document or file may need
to be unlocked or changed. There is a way to see the basics of this if you select
the file (click once) to highlight, then use Get Info from Finder menu (command + i)
You may have to see if the item has a padlock or who owns permissions, & change
them on just that file. Since other things may be involved, that I don't know about, it
would be up to you. Depending on the source of the file, and type, there may be a
few other items to consider. Some created files are limited by their author; one such
software may be adobe where a user can secure the document or content of a PDF.
When that happens, your options could be limited.
Also, external drive may be of an incorrect format for use with the Mac, & also window PC.
The lack of details can be create difficulty in communication. At 1:10AM tiredness is, too.
Good luck & happy computing! 🙂
I think it is an issue with the external drive. When I "get info" on it it says I can read files only. I bought this drive to use with this mac and I've previously copied videos and photos to it. How can I switch it to read and write?
If the external drive format is NTFS, you will need a third party application such as Paragon or Tuxera to write to it. Your other option is to reformat the drive to one common to both Mac and PC sich as Fat 32 or ExFat. However reformatting deletes all data off of a drive.
Ciao.
How do I copy a file from "Downloads" to an external drive? This machine won't let me.
