File sharing stopped working after macOS 13.7.5 update

rivmac wrote:

Using finder click Go, then Connect to Server. Enter the following: smb://name of computer._smb._tcp.local/name of shared folder. Enter credentials of shared folder user and password and it worked. I don't know why, but this has been a real problem for the last 10 days. Hope this works for you too.

Thanks for the hint, this works for me to connect from an El Capitan MacBook Pro to a Ventura MacBook Air.

What's also odd with this bug:

In the file sharing info window in System Settings, the note "Other users can access shared folders on this computer, and administrators all volumes, at smb://xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx" displays a completely unrelated random IP address, not the standard 192.168.1.xxx from my LAN IP range.

rivmac wrote:

Using finder click Go, then Connect to Server. Enter the following: smb://name of computer._smb._tcp.local/name of shared folder. Enter credentials of shared folder user and password and it worked.

So… to expand on ^ this ^ again…

I haven't updated or reinstalled anything (yet), but the "smb://nameofcomputer._smb._tcp.local/nameofsharedfolder" solution got me thinking.

And so I have simply added the full Ventura volume as a shared folder. This will default to System Administrator (i.e. root, I suppose) having read and write permissions. So I have added myself as a read&write co-owner, and for security, I have set "Everyone" to No Access.

Then, on the other Mac (El Capitan in my case), I can connect via cmd-K → smb://my_ventura_mac_name._smb._tcp.local/my_ventura_volume_name

Voilà, there's my Ventura volume again.

Not as elegant as just clicking a Connect button, but it works! :)

I just updated my MacBook Pro 2017 to macOS 13.7.7 and it fixed this file sharing problem.

The macOS 13.7.7 update fixed the problem even after a reboot of the MacBook.

I can now again login to the MacBook using the Finder from remote Macs.

I encountered the same issue with my iMac Retina 5K 27-inch model released in 2017. While screen sharing was functioning correctly, file sharing remained an issue. Interestingly, all my other Macs were able to share files seamlessly. After exhausting various troubleshooting steps, such as examining the file sharing settings, disabling and enabling FireShare, adjusting full disk settings, checking internet provider router settings, rebooting, and utilizing Disk Utility’s First Aid feature with Boot into Internet Recovery (Option Command R), none of these interventions resolved the problem.

Finally, I resorted to reinstalling Ventura via Boot into the Recovery volume with the Command + R keys held down (Intel Macs). Now it works as expected.

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction:

I don't have FE (which is not free, by the way, albeit inexpensive), but I have e.g. the Readdle Documents app, and that SMB connection from iPhone to 13.7.6 seems to work, too.

Also, I just figured out the [sarcasm] "trick" [/sarcasm] how to connect directly from the Files app:

1. tap the (…) menu
2. "connect to server"
3. delete any previously saved shortcut to the Ventura server (so that you're not tempted to tap on it)
4. type your "computername.local/volumename"
5. type your username and password; you'll have to do this every time
6. connect

Works repeatedly for me at the moment.

My half-educated guess is that there might be something fishy with the username/password storage in Ventura.

Yes, 13.7.7 does seem to correct the problem, Thanks Apple.

I will note that the install was very sketchy with lots of shakey behavior. There were times when my screen went completely black, for a loooong time, as if the computer was turned off. At one point it was black for a long enough time that I thought it was off, tried to turn it on with the power button, nothing, and ultimately unplugged and replugged the machine in. When I was testing with the first reboot it took about 5 minutes for the progress bar to show up under the apple.

After a few reboots, now it seems to be fine. I am not posting this to alert anyone about the specifics of what happened on my machine, at one point I wondered if the install had bricked my machine, but just that there were some very strange behaviors during the install.

May 2017 retina 5k 27inch, previous version 13.7.6

Keep in mind that on Ventura, the file system is APFS. That means that you can always add an aditional volume on the fly – without wiping the drive like in the olden days when a volume had to be partitioned first – and install a compatible MacOS version in parallel as a new boot volume. All older and newer MacOS versions are still available on Apple servers, albeit somewhat hidden and buried. But here's a 3rd party page that has all original download links directly to the Apple servers neatly listed, so you can simply pick your favorite version:

https://geekschalk.com/how-to-download-macos-installers-for-new-old-versions/

So for instance, if you want to revert to 13.7.4, you may want to create a new volume via Disk Utility, download https://swcdn.apple.com/content/downloads/08/22/072-83845-A_XJNKWES8K3/95bsibbbgdt0eyfr278z60061tw15x7g40/InstallAssistant.pkg (this is the "MacOS Ventura 13.7.4 InstallAssistant.pkg" link; note that it's genuine on a "swcdn.apple.com" server and not a 3rd party mirror) and install it on the new volume, then you can test it and migrate all your data to the new volume. APFS volumes are dynamic and will adjust in size as needed, as long as the total space allows. When the migration worked out fine, you can also delete the old 13.7.5 volume if needed.

Not every installation is possible "out of the box", however, so in certain constellations you may need to create an external bootable volume first, as outlined on Apple's Support pages.

In any case, I'm maintaining a spare Sonoma volume on my MacBook Air by using this method, currently at v14.7.3.

Just a followup. Even though I checked "SHARED" on the external drives, the SHARED setting wasn't being saved. I did try unlocking at the bottom of the Get Info screen, and it still was not saved. I then unlocked, checked SHARED, locked again, closed the get info, and reopening the get info ans the shared was saved.

Also, I did yet another reinstall of 13.7.5 and all is working for now. Fingers crossed.

great news: 13.7.7 update seems to solve the problem - tested on two computers ...

thank you apple !!

Update 13.7.7 seems to have fixed this issue, woohoo!

Lukas wrote:

somewhere I read that resetting the user account password may help, so that will be my next thing to try.

I didn't reset the login password yet, I only changed it, and then back again, but that didn't help.

But!

I also double-checked that the issue is with Ventura and not with the Mac itself or with the Wifi or Ethernet connection, and booted from my spare Sonoma (currently v14.7.2 installed) volume: the old MacBook El Capitan can connect to Sonoma via SMB without any issues.

So I may likely bite the bullet and upgrade to Sonoma (likely to v14.7.3 for now), because the old saying "never change a working system" obviously doesn't apply to Ventura anymore. Oh well… :/

no, still same issue with 13.7.6 - clicking on the macs found on network in the finder-sidebar still doesn't connect. the only workaround is still using cmd+k and enter full path smb://macname._smb._tcp.local/username/

shared folders for guests also don't show up .... network sharing still not working since 13.7.5 ...

I'm quite puzzled here, I tried to add this to my last comment, but I can't edit it.

Is also this forum broken?

I got this working just with "smb://computername/sharedfolder" no .smb, no .tcp. no .local.

And I did had to share that folder before connecting to it.

So, choosing disk and/or folder after logging in is broken.

Same problem here with two Macs running Ventura 13.7.5. Also had no problems before the update.

In the logfile "launchd.log" i see that the daemon "/usr/sbin/smbd" fails to start (launched from /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.smbd.plist).

grep "smbd" /private/var/log/com.apple.xpc.launchd/launchd.log
2025-04-07 14:37:57.794349 (system) <Notice>: Enabling service com.apple.smbd
2025-04-07 14:37:57.796555 (system/com.apple.smbd) <Warning>: (lint): The HideUntilCheckIn property is an architectural performance issue. Please transition away from it.
2025-04-07 14:37:57.865538 (system) <Notice>: Enabling service com.apple.smbd
2025-04-07 14:37:57.865557 (system/com.apple.smbd) <Error>: Caller tried to import service with same label as an existing service: path = /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.smbd.plist, caller = launchctl[1249]
2025-04-07 14:37:57.865563 (system) <Notice>: Bootstrap by launchctl[1249] for /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.smbd.plist failed (17: File exists)

Screen sharing still works, but I can't connect for file sharing to any other Mac in my homelab (Catalina 10.15.7, Mojave 12.7.6) from Ventura 13.7.5.

On the other hand, connecting to Windows shares works normally.

This is really very annoying.

Similar problem. We use a shared folder on Intel Mac mini which distributes scanned documents to our local network. After update to 13.7.5 this functionality has failed on several Macs. One M1 iMac with Sonoma 14.7.5 still able to connect to the shared folder, but not others, both intel and Apple silicon. Screen sharing works fine. When clicking on the Finder sidebar network and name of the Ventura machine and attempting to connect to it, continues with "connecting" for ages and does not connect.

Finally got it working by this method.

Using finder click Go, then Connect to Server. Enter the following: smb://name of computer._smb._tcp.local/name of shared folder. Enter credentials of shared folder user and password and it worked. I don't know why, but this has been a real problem for the last 10 days. Hope this works for you too.