error code -8072

[tlongacre]

I can't find anything anywhere about this error and nothing related seems to give any helpful information.

Trying to delete some large files (900mb - 1.5gb each) off an external HDD. Trash tells me it will Delete and this cannot be undone. It counts the files (789 or so), then I get: "The operation can’t be completed because an unexpected error occurred (error code -8072)."

I have total permissions to the drive, folder and each particular file.

I have done this before, as recently as a week or two ago, with no problem.

Why do I get error messages that no one seems to know anything about??? Hmm.

 

[Bear]

I suggest you delete a handful of files at a time until you find out which file is causing the issue.

 

[tlongacre]

I suggest you delete a handful of files at a time until you find out which file is causing the issue.

Tried deleting one at a time. Same result.

 

[madmacfan]

Tried deleting one at a time. Same result.

Hi,

Is you mac physically connected to the drive via a usb cable, or are you accessing the drive through SMB shares on your network? I've only ever seen this error occur when deleting files from a remote drive. Have you tried repairing the permissions in disk utility with the External Hdd directly connected to your Mac? This has happened to me twice before, and repairing the disk permissions both on the external Hdd and the internal HDD Did the trick for me.