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I can't open my iMovie library saved in my WD external drive

The operation couldn’t be completed. Permission denied

“iMovie Library” is already in use by “my name” on “another name”.


The above window opens when i try to access my imovie library in my WD external drive. I have over 90GB of media and its been really frustrating. Anyone encountered this situation? Any help would be appreciated

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Oct 16, 2020 10:22 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Oct 17, 2020 8:02 AM

Hi, boto180,


Try Ian's suggestions first. If still no luck, you might take a look at this thread and see if there is anything in there that helps you:


Can't open iMovie library.


As you can see from the above thread, lots of people have experienced this situation.


-- Rich

Similar questions

4 replies

Oct 17, 2020 1:51 AM in response to Ian R. Brown

Managed to remember what I did . . . . it was simply to shut down and restart my computer though I believe I had to do it again later on.


In addition to my earlier troubleshooting suggestions you could check that your WD hard drive has the correct permissions.


Do a "Get Info" on the WD drive and check that the "Ignore ownership on this volume" is ticked.


Oct 17, 2020 1:32 AM in response to boto180

SORRY! I encountered this about a year ago in Final Cut Pro but I can't remember how I resolved it.


For a start try shutting down iMovie and switching off your Mac.


Then delete the iMovie preference files as described below.


 Hold down the  Cmd and Option keys as you launch iMovie and a window will appear asking if you wish to delete the preferences. 


Click “Delete Preferences” and iMovie will open in the default (as-new) mode with no projects etc. on the interface. 


You will have to navigate to any project you were working on and reopen it. 


Deleting preferences is completely safe and because of its simplicity it should be the first thing you do when troubleshooting.

I can't open my iMovie library saved in my WD external drive

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