internal drive "you can read only"

Hello all. I just “upgraded” my MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Late 2013, MacBookPro11,1) (from Sierra to High Sierra (10.13.2) and I am having permissions problems. On my Internal drive, I cannot drag and drop files anymore. For example, I have (on the first level of the Internal Drive) a file called “A.docx” and a folder called “B”. I can no longer drag and drop a file. For example, if I drag file “A.docx” into folder “B”, the original file will still be present where it was, and the file will also be copied into “B”. This is NOT how the Permissions were arranged before I “upgraded.”


When I did “Get Info” for the Internal Drive, I see, in Sharing & Permissions, that it says “You can only read.” The listed names (under Sharing & Permissions) are “System” (“Read & Write”), “Wheel” (“Read Only”), and “Everyone” (“Read Only”).


When I did “Get Info” for the “A.docx”, I see, in Sharing & Permissions, that it says, “You have custom access.” The listed names are “[UserName]” (“Read & Write”) and “Everyone” (“No Access”).


When I did “Get Info” for “B”, I see, in Sharing & Permissions, that it says, “You have custom access.” The listed names are “System” (“Read & Write”), “Wheel” (“Read Only”), and “Everyone” (“Read Only”).


Does anyone know how I can fix this? I believe I should be able to drag and drop any file as per the previous situation. Thank you in advance!!

3.06 GHz iMac 24", Mac OS X (10.5.7), 4 GB RAM

Posted on Dec 26, 2017 11:16 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Dec 27, 2017 4:39 AM

High Sierra, for whatever reason (possibly security), has locked down the root of the hard drive (what you refer to as "first level"). You cannot change the permissions as they are locked down by System Integrity Protection (SIP).


The way to fix that is to store files in the appropriate locations, not at the root of the hard drive. You should store your files inside your home folder and any shared files inside /Users/Shared.


If you must work at the root of your hard drive, then you can either just create folders there and use those instead of the root, or disable SIP and change the permissions. You should re-enable SIP after making the changes.

2 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Dec 27, 2017 4:39 AM in response to E. Liebman

High Sierra, for whatever reason (possibly security), has locked down the root of the hard drive (what you refer to as "first level"). You cannot change the permissions as they are locked down by System Integrity Protection (SIP).


The way to fix that is to store files in the appropriate locations, not at the root of the hard drive. You should store your files inside your home folder and any shared files inside /Users/Shared.


If you must work at the root of your hard drive, then you can either just create folders there and use those instead of the root, or disable SIP and change the permissions. You should re-enable SIP after making the changes.

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internal drive "you can read only"

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