PDFs won't open on my iMac

[Shane247138630v0k]

The operation could not be completed as Acrobat Reader doesn't have permission to access: ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.mail/Data/Library/Mail Downloads/169EFC63-1A72-43ED-817D-B303FE40ED68/.

Launch privacy settings to grant access?

[Meenakshi Negi]

Hi Shane,

Thank you for reaching out.

It seems that you are trying to open a PDF from a secured folder. As per the message, it is a permission-related issue.

Are you using your personal machine or the work machine? 

Check if the issue occurs with files saved in another location on the machine. If not, please check the privacy settings as mentioned in the message for that folder.

Thanks,

Meenakshi

[Shane247138630v0k]

Hi Meenakshi,

I opened the privacy settings on my personal mac (which has always worked for opening PDFs so this is a random new development) and tried checking and unchecking the box for PDF security.  No change to the message when I attempt to open a PDF.  Any further suggestions would be appreciated.  Thank you

[Juan Cano]

I have just started having the exact same issue. A week ago I had never experienced this. Extra annoying. I am unable to 'add' Acrobat in The OSX Privacy Settings for Files and Folders. All buttons are greyed out.

As a side note, my IT team just installed SentineOne security software and FortiClient VPN. I don't know if those can be interfering. 

It happens mostly with PDFs from Chrome, like an attachment or a PDF egnerated on the page. But I think is happening with PDFs on my drive as well. This is a work Mac but I have Admin rights. 

Also, I found that the PDFs that are refusing to open, do go into my Downloads folder (I have so many copies of the same thing!). Once in a while they open.

[Thomas247726395ahu]

Hello.  I have the same new problem.  Someone sends a pdf file I try to open it and I get the "no permission... library..." message.  I close Acrobat and while it is closed I click on the pdf file and it opens fine.  But in order to open any pdf I need to close Acrobat and start clean.  So far, nothing in the responses to this problem have helped at all.  This is very annoying.

[Juan Cano]

Thanks for the reply. Did this start recently? Acrobat upgrade? I wonder what is causing it now. No updates for Acrobat on the Cloud. 

I added Acrobat to have full disk access. And now it has full Files and Folder access. But that didn't fix it.

Thank you for the tip, better than nothing!!  😉

[S. S]

Hi Juan, you can try changing the folder permission settings to read and write for everyone through the get info option. The permission setting, at times, may change the way you work with files.

You can view this link to learn more: Change permissions for files, folders, or disks on Mac - Apple Support (IN)

I would suggest applying read and write permissions to the entire library to you don't get the same error that you are experiencing with Acrobat.

[Juan Cano]

Hi; thanks for the reply. What folder would I do this to? Like my Mac HD? It is not happening within a particular folder. 

My Mac HD, this is the screenshot. It won't allow to add my 'user', probably a safety thing. I work off my HD which syncs to a OneDrive folder. But these PDFs that I am having issues are being saved into the Downloads folder, to which I have Read & Write access. 

I don't think this is limited to a folder. And why would the permissions to my Mac folders change suddenly? 

[S. S · Accepted solution]

It will have to be within Mac HD-> Users-> [your user name]-> Library.

[ Or an alternative method would be to click on any open space on the desktop-> Click on "Go" on the top menu bar-> press down the "Option key"-> Library]

The user account library is the location where you are experiencing the issue and it will be the folder you would need to provide permissions to.

Once there on the get info window, unlock the lock icon first and then change the permissions not for your user name but everyone.

[Unlocking the golden lock icon/Padlock requires you to put in your MAC password once]

Once you are done with it, click on the circle with the three dots beside the lock-> click on Apply to enclosed items.

Once this is done, try working with the files.

[David24792264g4gr]

Nope.  Did as instructed by S.S.  Got to the folder, opened library, changed permissions for Everyone to "read and write," applied the changes after unlocking (it took about 4 minutes to apply the changes).  Once done, I closed those windows and tried to open a .pdf file attached to an email.  Same error message asking me to change permissions.  I even tried removing Adobe and re-installing.  Same problem.  And why did this just start happening about 3 weeks ago?

[David24792264g4gr]

Not sure what caused it, but I started having the exact same problem about one week ago.  If Acrobat upgraded, it did so automatically.  I didn't do it.  I couldn't give Adobe permissions on my Mac Preferences Security screen.  Out of desperation, I went to the Adobe preferences menu, and under Security (Enhanced), I found that box was checked.  I unchecked it to disable enhanced security, and now my PDF files open.  No idea if I've created a security issue for myself, but at least the attachments open!

[Juan Cano]

That is a great tip! I tried the tip by SS. but there is no Library under my username, only a Library at the HD level. I can't do anything to that library.

[Juan Cano]

OK; unclicking the Enhanced Security in Preferences didn't fix it. I did go into my "Downloads" folder, Get Info, and noticed the "Sharing & Permissions" for Everyone was set to "No Access". I have now changed it to Read & Write and so far so good. Hope this helps.

I think this is mostly happening with PDFs I try to open via a Browser, Chrome, and they default to save in Downloads before they open.

[S. S]

Thank you, Juan, for taking the time and letting us know it helped. The error meant that the application could not access the files due to permissions not being granted.

You may also change the location of your downloads in the future if you think the location could be an issue.

[David24792264g4gr]

Darn it, Juan.  I tried what you described and changed permssions for Everyone in the downloads folder to "read and write."  Still wouldn't open a .pdf attached to an email.  The email was received prior to the change and was sitting in my inbox.  Maybe that's the issue and this will work going foward?

[David24792264g4gr]

So I tried forwarding the old email to myself with the .pdf attachment, thinking maybe if it came in "new" it might work.  Nope.  I still get this message when I try to open the attached .pdf.

The operation could not be completed as Acrobat Reader doesn't have permission to access: ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.mail/Data/Library/Mail Downloads/48E1947C-2BC0-4CEE-B1F0-A18A57CE8652/.

Launch privacy settings to grant access?

[S. S]

@David24792264g4gr 

Hi,

Can you try changing the location of the file you are saving and then check if you still get the error?

For example, please try to change the location of the PDF to the desktop and then check.

[serena280879311khi]

This worked for me-so far anyway. Hurrah!! Thank you, it was driving me nuts.

I had to restart my computer to get it to take but so far so good, thank you for your time- and for saving ours!