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philstr
User level: Level 1 (11 points)

Mac user requires password to create new folders and cannot name them

I recently updated my Mac to OSX 27.


Both my wife and I have accounts set up as administrators. I can create folders with no issues. However, she can no longer create new folders without being forced to enter her password. To add insult to injury, it doesn't allow her to create the folder with her desired folder name. It simply creates "untitled folder".


We are both in the same system group. The permissions on the parent folder and below are set to 775 (rwxrwxr_x).

Why can't she create a folder without the hassle? Do I need to change something on the Mac to allow her to create new folders without using her account username and password? And can she create a new folder and specify the folder name without renaming the folder, after it was created?

Posted on Sep 21, 2026 1:38 PM

5 replies

Barney-15E
User level: Level 10 (125,838 points)

Sep 22, 2026 8:38 PM in response to philstr

philstr wrote:
Hi Barney,
Thanks for the info. I am not sure what you mean by , "Apply to enclosed" where I changed the permissions to 775.
Can you clarify?

In the sharing and permissions section of Get Info, you can select “Apply to enclosed…” from the ellipsis menu. Along with propagating the POSIX permissions (rwx), it will also propagate any ACLs.

I didn’t mean that it happened when you specifically changed the mode to 775, just that you obviously changed the permissions. The home folder should be 755 and the primary subfolders have no group permissions and no access for everyone, 700.


Rereading your description, that doesn’t sound like the deny delete ACL, but it does seem like an acl. In Terminal, copy/paste this , leave a space, then drag the parent folder into the Terminal window and hit return. 

ls -leO@d

That will list the info for the directory. Right after the line for that folder, there may be lines starting with a digit and colon, e.g., 0:, 1:, etc.

Those are ACLs which can override the POSIX permissions.

Barney-15E
User level: Level 10 (125,838 points)

Sep 21, 2026 6:09 PM in response to philstr

There is more to permissions than just the POSIX permissions. It sounds like there is an Access Control List attached.

The standard folders have a “group:everyone deny delete” entry on them. If you change permissions (which you must have to get a mode of 775), then Apply to enclosed, you will propagate the deny delete to everything in the subfolder.

philstr Author
User level: Level 1 (11 points)

Sep 21, 2026 2:28 PM in response to Chattanoogan

Yes, this is when she is logged in as herself. We both use the same Mac, but she uses the Mac when I am not using it. But both our accounts are set up as admin with identical permissions.


The OS is OSX 27 (aka Golden Gate).

Chattanoogan
User level: Level 8 (43,489 points)

Sep 21, 2026 2:10 PM in response to philstr

To be clear, this is when she is logged in to her own local user account, correct ?


Also … what MacOS ?

philstr Author
User level: Level 1 (11 points)

Sep 22, 2026 2:55 PM in response to Barney-15E

Hi Barney,


Thanks for the info. I am not sure what you mean by , "Apply to enclosed" where I changed the permissions to 775.


Can you clarify?


Originally posted at discussions.apple.com/thread/256362206