How to change permissions after migrating files?

Question

I migrated music files from my old Mac to my new Mac but I don't have the permissions to open the folder with the new files. The option to select the folder with the transferred files was grayed out when I used "Get Info".

Answer 1

It does not sound like you are comfortable with using the command line so here is a GUI based solution that you might try:

If you are able to Get Info on the folder of interest go the the very bottom section Sharing and Permissions.

By default this section is greyed out for all files/folders regardless of the owner/permissions. You can gain access to this area by clicking on the lock ion in the lower right corner of the Get Info window.

Once you have input the admin password for the computer you should be able to edit the permissions on that file/directory.

You can recursively apply the changes made to the permissions by selecting Apply to enclosed items from the gear shaped dropbox in the lower left of the Get Items window.

If you are familiar with the command line there are alternatives to this approach but give the graphical method.

Answer 2

If you want to do this properly, you should check out this guide at apple.com.

If you want to change permissions of specific files/folders manually, you can use the chown unix command.