Scratch disks are write protected or unavailable?

[Andreas_St1]

Premier Pro on a MAC.

Error code:

Scratch disks are write protected or unavailable. To open this project,, the scratch disks will be set to your Documents folder. Would you like to continue?

I don't know what to do, i've googled this issue and can't find any solutions.

/ Andreas

[Farouk27229114ucy7]

Thanks a lot, you're a life saver!

[Javid5FD8 · Accepted solution]

Hi All,

 I was going crazy with this issue bc nothing worked for me (trashing prefs etc).  What did work, though, was giving Prem 22 'Full Disk Access'. 

System pref > Security and Privacy > Privacy

Click 'Full Disk Access' and make sure your premiere is checked.

I reopened Premiere with the same project file that was previously unusable, and wallah, opened normally, everything linked!

I hope this helps someone. 

[Maria241467209uyw]

This solution worked for me. Thank you!!

[Raelene22006795sr8q]

literally saved my life. thanks so much

[laurap15576738]

Thank you! 

Definitely saved my sanity 🙂 

Rock on!

[niclask88715844]

Thank you, that worked for me. After doing the MacOS monterey 12.3.1 update everything was a mess. Saved my day!

[laurap15576738]

Thank you for letting me know. So glad I'm not the only one this worked for.

Create great things!!!

[jilljordan]

Thank you ! Thank you! Thank you!!! This worked for me!

[laurap15576738]

So stoked this worked for you!

Forward progress!

[Adesiji5CC6]

This definitely worked for me as well. A million thanks. 

[laurap15576738]

Awesome!!! Thank you for letting me know! 

Edit on 🙂 

[birgitte_aare]

Thank you, thank you, thank you! It worked!

[theclixgroup]

Thank you so much! Worked like a charm!

[evrano]

That's the way! Thanks Bro!

[andrémachado]

You sir, saved my day! Thx a lot!

[waynej17329804]

Thank you!

[Pheladi263581437ulx]

This worked, thanks so much!

[Kevin-Monahan]

Yep. This one even worked for me! Every major version will probably have to have this checked.

Thank You,

Kevin

[whitneyl39007655]

Yes this worked for me, but I had to add Premier to the list first. If you don't see it on the list, click the little plus sign at the bottom.

[laurap15576738]

This happened to me when I upgraded both my Macbook Pro & Premiere Pro version to 2022. I have 1.9 TB of audio/video/etc on an external hard drive that is the location for my project files and source content for this series of projects.

I believe I tried all the above solutions, without success. I DID find a workaround, however! 

I created a new project on my laptop with PP 2022, with its native settings, but created a new folder on my desktop for the new project. To keep myself organized, I used the same project name, but appended it to "2022".

Once the new project was open, I went to my hard drive & dragged the old .prproj file into the import box. I left it at default settings and clicked "ok".  It took a few minutes for it to finish - you may see the dreaded spinning ball o'doom because it's taxing on even my new, robust system.

But: ALL the sequences, original audio files & original video files were brought in, in their appropriate bins, ready to edit!

I chose to keep all source files on my external hard drive - but, there is an option to create a folder on your computer with all the assets. 

I saved this new file & repeated the process with all the projects on the drive. All successful!

I'm attaching a video of the process (cutting out over a minute of the lag time).

Hope this solution works for anyone else who had tried all of the above! It didn't fix the problem, but it's a great workaround.

[dukensa85596487]

Hello all,

I have just have recently encountered this problem (2019 MAC) and none of thse solutions were working for me. Finally, I was able to resolve by allowing full disk access to Premiere Pro. How: 1. Go into your settings. 2. click on Security & Privacy. 3. In that window you'll find tabs lableled: "General, FileVault, Firewall, and Privacy", click on the Privacy tab. 4. On the left of this window you should find file icons. Scroll down to "Full Disck Access" and click on it. 5. On the right of window under the message that reads: "Allow the apps below to access data like Mail..." scroll down until you find Adobe Premiere Pro and make sure the box is checked. This should do the trick.

[bflintphoto]

Thank you for posting this! My computer automatically this morning and every time I would try and open a project it would give me the same scratch disk error and this fixed it. 

One thing to note that I had to do,  that others may have to as well,  is when you get into your "Full Disk Access" list you may need to add Premier to that list and make sure the box is checked. That is what I had to do and now everything is working great again. Thanks again!

[chadiwack]

BRO!!! 1000% grateful you posted this.

[chadiwack]

DUDE! THANK YOU!!! I updated my 2019 Mac on the weekend from Big Sur to Monterey and suddenly got this Scratch Disk Error, as I store 90% of my Premiere prj on my external harddrive I was at a loss as to what to do. I'm very grateful that you took the time to post your fix/solve comment. It's back to normal for me. Thank you again. Not all heroes wear capes, some carry keyboards 🙂

[chadiwack]

Good afternoon Andreas, I was wondering if you ever found a fix for this. I am having the same problem. I updated from Big Sur to Monterey and have been having this problem ever since. I can't access any of my external drive premiere projects.