Mac: Repairing access rights under macOS Big Sur and Monterey

The new operating systems from Apple and the new Apple Silicon Macs have a few special features in store. Among other things, the procedure for repairing access rights, which is used to correct the system's authorizations, has changed.

I've read through a few instructions and just introduce you to the options that I have found. You have to try out what leads to your goal.

Argumentil command in the terminal

The first variant is to run two commands in the Port. You can find the Terminal in the Applications > Utilities folder. There you type in:

sudo diskutil resetUserPermissions / 'id -u'

Note: In the terminal you will be asked for the admin password after every "sudo" command.

It is possible that the error "Error -69841" is then displayed. This can be solved by entering these two commands:

chflags -R nouchg ~
sudo diskutil resetUserPermissions / 'id -u'

If you want to repair the access rights on the Mac, you can often not get around the recovery mode (Photo: Sir Apfelot).

repairHomePermissions in the terminal (recovery mode)

Another way to repair the access rights in the user's home folder is also via the terminal. This time, however, im Recovery mode, which you can reach by holding down cmd + R when restarting on Intel Macs and holding down the power button on Apple Silicon Macs (such as M1, M1 Pro / Max) (see Recovery mode on Apple Silicon Macs). Proceed as follows:

• Start Mac in recovery mode
• start the terminal in the "Utilities" menu
• type there: repairHomePermissions (Press enter)
• on Intel Macs you now select the user account and enter the admin password; this step is omitted for Apple Silicon Macs
• closes the terminal and selects "reinstall macOS" in the main window of the recovery mode and installs over the existing system (your data will not be lost)
• after that the Mac will restart and hopefully it will work

The "repairHomePermissions" command repairs the access rights in the user folder (Photo: Sir Apfelot).

Install fresh macOS and migrate users

If all else fails, the last variant remains, which is unfortunately more cumbersome: You start from scratch and migrate your user data to a completely fresh system.

• creates a complete backup of your hard drive (for example with Carbon Copy Cloner or Super Duper)
• the Mac will now start in recovery mode
• open the disk utility and delete the internal volume on which the system is located
• once that's done, choose "reinstall macOS"
• When setting up the system, you create a new user account with a different name than the one on the backup
• Once the user is set up (do without iCloud and everything else), open the migration assistant (Applications> Utility)
• You can then use the migration assistant to import the user from the backup hard drive

I hope everything will work again afterwards. If not, maybe we can try the topic again Sir Applerot Forum approach.

Jen Kleinholz( Founder & Sir Apfelot )

Jens has been running the blog since 2012. He appears as Sir Apfelot for his readers and helps them with problems of a technical nature. In his free time he drives electric unicycles, takes photos (preferably with his iPhone, of course), climbs around in the Hessian mountains or hikes with the family. His articles deal with Apple products, news from the world of drones or solutions for current bugs.