Q: Greyed Out Folder

G'day Charles Hess, 

Thanks for using Apple Support Communities. 

I see that you are having trouble accessing a greyed folder on your 1TB drive. I use an external drive to store my projects as well, so I know how important it is we get this resolved. There's a few things that I'd like you to try. 

First, use the article OS X Mavericks: Set permissions and make sure that the permission settings are correct for you to view this folder, specifically, these sections:

Assign permissions to users and groups

1. Select a disk, folder, or file, then choose File > Get Info.
2. If the information in Sharing & Permissions isn’t visible, click the disclosure triangle.
3. Select a user or group from the Name column, then choose one of the following from the pop-up menu in the Privileges column. If necessary, click the lock icon and enter an administrator’s name and password.                                                                                                          

   Option	Description
   Read & Write:	Allows a user to open the item and change it.
   Read Only:	Allows a user to open the item, but not change its contents.
   Write Only:	Makes a folder into a drop box. Users can copy items to the drop box, but can’t open it. Only the owner of the drop box can open it.
   No Access:	Blocks all access to the item.

 

Apply permissions to all items in a folder or a disk

1. Select a folder or a disk, then choose File > Get Info.
2. Click the lock icon to unlock it, then enter an administrator’s name and password.
3. Choose "Apply to enclosed items" from the Action pop-up menu (looks like a gear).

And if you still have an issue after that, I would recommend using the resources below to isolate the software that is running on the iMac. You can do this by testing in safe mode and a new user. Once you're in safe mode and a new user, test and see if you get the same greyed folder result. 

OS X Mavericks: Start up in safe mode

How to test an issue in another user account on your Mac​

Cheers!