File Permissions Denied

Please back up all data before proceeding.

This procedure will unlock all your user files (not system files) and reset their ownership, permissions, and access controls to the default. If you've intentionally set special values for those attributes on any of your files, they will be reverted. In that case, either stop here, or be prepared to recreate the settings if necessary. Do so only after verifying that those settings didn't cause the problem. If none of this is meaningful to you, you don't need to worry about it, but you do need to follow the instructions below.

Step 1

If you have more than one user, and the one in question is not an administrator, then go to Step 2.

Triple-click anywhere in the following line on this page to select it:

sudo find ~ $TMPDIR.. -exec chflags -h nosappnd,noschg,nosunlnk,nouappnd,nouchg {} + -exec chown -h $UID {} + -exec chmod +rw {} + -exec chmod -h -N {} + -type d -exec chmod -h +x {} + 2>&-

Copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C.

Launch the built-in Terminal application in any one of the following ways:

☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)

☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.

☞ Open LaunchPad and start typing the name.

Paste into the Terminal window by pressing command-V. I've tested these instructions only with the Safari web browser. If you use another browser, you may have to press the return key after pasting.

You'll be prompted for your login password, which won't be displayed when you type it. Type carefully and then press return. You may get a one-time warning to be careful. If you don’t have a login password, you’ll need to set one before you can run the command. If you see a message that your username "is not in the sudoers file," then you're not logged in as an administrator.

The command may take several minutes to run, depending on how many files you have. Wait for a new line ending in a dollar sign ($) to appear, then quit Terminal.

Step 2 (optional)

Take this step only if you have trouble with Step 1, if you prefer not to take it, or if it doesn't solve the problem.

Start up in Recovery mode. You may be prompted to select a language, then the OS X Utilities screen will appear.

If you use FileVault 2, select Disk Utility, then select the icon of the FileVault startup volume ("Macintosh HD," unless you gave it a different name.) It will be nested below another drive icon. Select Unlock from the File menu and enter your login password when prompted. Then quit Disk Utility to be returned to the main screen.

Select

Utilities ▹ Terminal

from the menu bar. A Terminal window will open. In that window, type this:

resetp

Press the tab key. The partial command you typed will automatically be completed to this:

resetpassword

Press return. A Reset Password window will open. You’re not going to reset a password.

Select your startup volume ("Macintosh HD," unless you gave it a different name) if not already selected.

Select your username from the menu labeled Select the user account if not already selected.

Under Reset Home Directory Permissions and ACLs, click the Reset button.

Select

 ▹ Restart

from the menu bar.

Thank you so much for saving me a return trip to the "genius" bar. I went a week ago because NONE of my applications were responding. My problem was diagnosed as "corrupted software". So my hard drive was erased and new software was installed. I am only sharing this information with you because it was after that process was completed that upon returning home, all documents I had created were locked.

For what it's worth, I thought you might appreciate some feedback about your instructions. At first, I found your instructions confusing, probably because you gave 3 ways to open the terminal app., which I suspect most users have never opened, let alone used. It might help if you inserted "or" after the first 2 options. The option that confused me the most was " ☞ Open LaunchPad and start typing the name." My reaction was "What name?" Also, my launchpad opens to a screen of icons, so there is no place to start typing anything.

The part I found most helpful was knowing that there would be no indication that I had typed the password AND that when adollar sign($)appeared, that the process had completed and that I should quit the Terminal.

Needless to say, I was overjoyed when it worked!!! People like me are eternally grateful there are people out there like you who are willing to share your knowledge with us!

Did you take Step 2?

If a firmware password is set and you don't know the password, you'll have to bring the machine to an Apple Store or another authorized service provider to have the lock removed. You may be asked for proof of ownership, such as a receipt with your name on it.

Please enter this command as before:

ls -@BOaen | pbcopy

The output of the command will be automatically copied to the Clipboard. If the command produced no output, the Clipboard will be empty. Paste into a reply to this message.

The Terminal window doesn't show the output. Please don't copy anything from there.

If any personal information appears in the output, anonymize before posting, but don’t remove the context.

Please enter this command:

sudo chown -R $UID:20 Doc*

There will be no output this time. If you get an error message in the Terminal window, post it.

You have to enter your password. If you took Step 1 in my first comment, you've already done that once. If you didn't take Step 1, I suggest you do that now.

What do you get from this:

echo $PATH