Can't rename some files in Finder?

Tech Support
1

Only recently have begun experiencing this. It’s not all files - only some. Not sure what the variables are. as an example, though, a pdf I recently downloaded was copied and pasted into another folder. At that point I could not rename it from within Finder (I realize I could open it, and “Save As” a different name, but that’s much more cumbersome.

Anyone encountered this, or have ideas for what I should check to regain this functionality?

2

Repair permissions…

Open Disk Utility
Select the drive
Click on “First Aid”

Another way is to select the folder or if the problem is wide spread and random the entire user folder.
Right click on the folder and select “Get info”

  1. Select his username and toggle the “Read & Write” to Read only and back
  2. Click on the … (ellipsis) at the bottom and chose “Apply to all enclosed items”
  3. Restart the Mac

If that doesn’t work

  1. System preferences > Users and Groups
  2. Select your user profile
  3. Change the password (you can use your old one…)
  4. Apply
  5. Restart your Mac
3 Likes
3

Same problem here. At least in some cases it’s related to attachments I dragged out of Apple Mail. Interestingly I found that if the file can be opened by Preview, it can be renamed within Preview. But when it’s saved back with the new name it is still not possible to rename it (again) in Finder. I’m pretty sure it’s not a folder permission issue because other files in the same folder can be renamed no problem.

4

Huh - in my case I just logged out and back in (didn’t even actually reboot). Seems to be working again. ¯_(ツ)_/¯