Hey all, even though I'm the administrator every time I go to move or copy a file to an external drive, it asks me to use my fingerprint or computer password.
Where do I navigate to and what do I check/uncheck to give me full access without having to always enter my computer password?
Thanks in advance for any help---
MacBook Pro TouchBar and Touch ID, macOS High Sierra (10.13.3)
You must be moving files or moving from a drive with different permissions than you have for access or where the target drive has different permissions. As an Admin you do not have access to files in another user account. That may prevent you from copying or moving them. A system drive has specific privileges that may differ from an external storage drive. The latter may not have "Ignore permissions on this drive" enabled via Get Info. If ticked you shouldn't have any problem with files that you own.
Are both From and To accounts root user or just system? If the latter are you the same Admin user on both sides? I can't see what is configured on all your devices, so my questions help me to understand. Forgive me if you find them overly simple. High Sierra has made many new changes to the system's security measures such as the SIP locking certain folders against any change. The system itself now locks all permissions for system files hence the removal of having to repair permissions. I don't know if you are being affected by this. If you were to use a backup utility for these file transfers are they then permitted or still blocked?
Thanks for the responses --
I have a 2017 Macbook Pro with 3 external drives hooked up -- 2 SSD thunderbolt drives; a 1 TB GB and 256 GB each connected to a USB-C port, and a regular HDD drive connected to a USB port for regular daily computer backups.
On the 500 gb drive I can move files freely to and from it and my Macbook, and same goes for my HDD computer backup drive. But when I want to make copies of files from the 1 TB GB to the 256 Gb drive connected to another USC-C port, Sierra always asks me to authenticate with fingerprint ID or password -- not only to copy files to, but to delete files (move to trash).
In disk utility on the 256 GB it says the owner is "enabled." The 1 TB says the owner is "disabled."
So I guess the question is: why does the 256 SSD drive, and only that drive, not let me freely move files without asking for authentication? Does the disabled and enabled thing have anything to do with it?
Thanks again for any ideas--
Where on the SSD are you moving the files? Is the SSD used as the system volume and has macOS installed on it? If so this may be why. High Sierra implements considerable security protections including locking down lots of folders or preventing access using SIP.
So, it only happens when trying to put files in the Trash. Try this:
Visit The XLab FAQs and read the FAQ on solving Trash issues. You can also try using Trash It! 5.1 to fix the problem. Or you can try this:
Open the Terminal in the Utilities' folder and paste the following at the prompt:
sudo rm -Rf ~/.Trash
Press RETURN. Enter your admin password when prompted. It will not echo to the Terminal. Press RETURN again.
(Should anyone tell you this is dangerous or unnecessary, please ignore the comment.)
Actually, the authentication asking happens first when I move from the 1 TB SSD external drive to the other external drive, the 256 gb SSD. They are each connected to a USB-C port.
Then, the authentication window comes up a second time when I want to dump a file from that 256 Gb SSD drive to the trash.
For the trash I'll try your suggestion.
Thanks---
Having the same issue... when I go to move a file (say from my desktop to my internal hard drive), the authenticate window pops up. Wish there was a simple way to get past this process.
There isn't. The root of the startup drive is protected by SIP. You cannot change the permissions. If you must drop files into the hard drive, make a folder there instead and use that folder. Or, just save files into your Home folder or /Users/Shared instead of the root level of the hard drive.
I believe the other account is root.
I'm moving files from the 1 TB to the 256 GB, and old files off the 256Gb to the trash-- that's when it asks for authentication.
On the 256 there's just one volume and all my files get moved there.
Having the same issue... when I go to move a file (say from my desktop to my internal hard drive), the authenticate window pops up. Wish there was a simple way to get past this process.
Sierra 10.13.3 file moving permissions?
