Operation not Permitted

[bronto346]

I have just purchased FileBot and so far haven't been able to get it to work. Every time I try to rename the files I get the message "Operation not permitted." I attach a screenshot:



https://snipboard.io/gpKHw5.jpg

[rednoah]

How did you install FileBot? Did you purchase and install FileBot via the Mac App Store by any chance?


Where are files located? What are the file paths at hand? Have you tried renaming files in your own $HOME folder just to see if that works?


Operation not permitted is a macOS error message, not a FileBot error message. FileBot asks the OS to rename a file from A to B and the OS refuses for some reason. This is typically caused by application sandboxing, local file permissions, or remote file permissions if you're processing files on a remote network share.

[bronto346]

Thanks for responding.

I'm pretty sure I downloaded from the website.

F7 doesn't seem to copy anything. Is there an alternative on a Mac to copy paths?

I'm not on any network, just my own laptop.

I don't know if it's relevant, but the files I am trying to rename are on an external hard disk.

[bronto346]

OK. I transferred a file from the external disk to the laptop and was able to rename it.

I'd still like to work out how to fix the permissions on the external disk, because transferring to and from the laptop adds a lot of time and I do have limited space on the laptop.

[rednoah]

F7 doesn't seem to copy anything. Is there an alternative on a Mac to copy paths?

You are pressing the F7 key and not the key? If you're using a macOS laptop then you may need to hold the Function modifier to actually press the F7 key (see How to use the function keys on your Mac) because macOS uses the F key row for media controls unless configured otherwise.


You can also use keyboard copy & paste (press Command-C on macOS) after selecting a file item to copy & paste a complete file path from the Original Files list.

I'd still like to work out how to fix the permissions on the external disk, because transferring to and from the laptop adds a lot of time and I do have limited space on the laptop.

What file system are you using for your external drive? exFAT? APFS?


You can usually set permissions via Finder. I'd use Google (you will find many results; some of which will be useful; some of which will not be useful) to get some ideas and try a few things. Please let us know if you find a solution and what ended up working for you. As a last resort, you can always format / delete / reset the entire drive, but you'd have to move your files elsewhere while doing so.