Cannot write to my hard drive

When I go to admin under 'Sharing & Permissions' and try to change it to read & write it gives me the attached response. Saying I do not have the necessary permissions. Started doing this after I upgraded to OS 10.15 Catalina.

iMac Line (2012 and Later)

Posted on Jan 16, 2020 8:26 AM

Similar questions

Permission Settings Hi, Since installing Catalina, I'm unable to change the permissions settings in Get Info for my main hard drive. I'm able to unlock it, but when I select Read & Write, I get a pop up that I don't have permission. There is only one account on the computer. When I open Users & Accounts in the System Prefs, I see "Allow user to administer this computer" is checked, but grayed out (maybe because only one account). I tried the terminal command recommended in another thread here on this forum, and it clearly ran the process, but upon restarting, the problem still exists. I tried to fix permissions in Disk Utility, but when I open the app, it just shows information without any options to do anything. Does anyone know how to fix this problem? Thank you!
1574 3
With Catalina update, I can't write to pen drives and external HDs even though I'm an administrator https://youtu.be/1-02uCMhnm8 Here I show the problem! After upgrading to Catalina (v.10.15.7), I can read, but I can't write to any external hard drives or flash drives that I used to use normally! I go to "Get Information"> "Sharing and Permissions"> and I'm there as an Admin, being able to do "read and write". However, I cannot record. And if I try to change the "privilege" of my user or even the user "everyone" (which is "read-only"), Catalina says that "I don't have the necessary permission to change this". The various drives have free space and my user is "Administrator". For all of them, I have permission to "read and write", but I can't write or paste (the cursor shows the forbidden sign). There are also the "everyone" and "staff" users listed (they were not created by me and I think they are standard Macs) with "read-only" permission. If I try to change their permission to record, the message comes that I am not allowed to change this status. It seems that I am not logged in as an administrator, although I am. In addition, to do a test, I created a new "administrator" user and tried to access my hard drives and flash drives with him. Same thing. They appear with permission to "record" on these media, but I can't save / paste anything on them. What I do? Thanks, people!!
1247 4
"Read only" on Macintosh HD and External hard drive Hello, i just want to know how to fix this issue. I checked my folders and all have "read and write" permissions and I can see my name (Administrator) on the list. But when I go to Macintosh HD, not only that my name (Administrator) is not visible, it says "Read only" under sharing and permissions. Also, I have used my external hard drive until last week to save files, so i know its on the correct format for mac. Under Sharing and Permissions, on my name (Administrator) it says "Read and Write". But its not letting me save files on it. Note I just updated to Catalina last April 2020. Are these two issues related? Thanks.
1074 1

1 reply

macjack

Level 10

111,242 points

Jan 16, 2020 8:28 AM in response to Strawberry242

It's a new security feature in Catalina. You cannot write to Mac HD you can only write to Mac HD_Data.

This thread has been closed by the system or the community team. You may vote for any posts you find helpful, or search the Community for additional answers.

Cannot write to my hard drive

Welcome to Apple Support Community

A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.

Learn more Sign up