I can't open Documents folder in Finder

Question

I can't open Documents folder in Finder

When I access files (10 GB worth) located in my Documents folder from within an app like BBEdit using the standard GetFile dialog, everything works fine.

When I click on Documents in the Sidebar of the finder window nothing happens.

When I double-click on the Documents icon in a Finder window nothing happens.

This is a major bug given that a number of apps park their data in the Documents folder.

Does anyone know what is happening here? Is there a fix or a workaround? I read somewhere (maybe reddit) that it may have something to do with TimeMachine backups.

MacBook Pro 16″, macOS 12.4

Posted on Jul 12, 2022 4:30 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Barney-15E

Level 10

116,782 points

Jul 12, 2022 6:13 PM in response to Bradford Sherman

Where in the Finder are you seeing the Documents folder.

If you select Documents from the Go menu in Finder, do you see your files.

You might give a Safe Mode startup a try as it clears some system caches. See if it works correctly in Safe Mode, then restart normally. Test again.

How to use safe mode on your Mac - Apple Support

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Answer 2

Jul 12, 2022 9:28 PM in response to Barney-15E

It doesn't matter how I try to get to the Documents folder. The finder window that opens is empty. If I click on Documents in the sidebar, nothing happens. If I use Go>Documents or cmd-shift-O I get a Documents window that is empty.

If I drag a file to the Documents icon in the sidebar, the file seems to copy to the documents folder OK (I can access it through an application getFile dialog.

I'll try the restart in safe mode suggestion. Thanks for the advice.

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Answer 3

Jul 13, 2022 4:06 AM in response to Matti Haveri

If I look at security and privacy for Files and Folders, BBEdit has access to the Downloads folder but no other locations are shown. The UI is so different now with Monterey that I really have no idea about access to other folders. I can say that in practice it has access to everything as far as I'm aware, so maybe I set it up that way after I installed it. I use BBEdit all the time, so I wouldn't be surprised if I did that.

I do have a cleaner app that might be the culprit. I'll keep an eye on it. Thanks for the suggestion.

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Answer 4

Jul 13, 2022 12:41 AM in response to Bradford Sherman

Works for me. Has BBEdit been granted access in the security prefs?

Do you have any 3rd party virus apps or "cleaners" that very often produce obscure errors?

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Answer 5

Jul 13, 2022 4:00 AM in response to Bradford Sherman

The safe mode reboot fixed the problem.

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Answer 6

Jul 13, 2022 5:00 AM in response to Bradford Sherman

> I do have a cleaner app that might be the culprit. I'll keep an eye on it

I'd suggest uninstalling it because they cause nothing but trouble.

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I can't open Documents folder in Finder

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