Troubleshooting

Solutions for folder access, Empty Trash, Open in Terminal, hard-to-read glass, server connections and settings.

Solutions for the problems people meet most often. If yours is not here, see Support.

A pane shows Permission Needed#

MeiFiles is a Mac App Store app. macOS lets it open only the folders you give it.

A pane showing Permission Needed, with a Grant Access button.

  1. Click Grant Access….
  2. Choose the folder, then click the button to confirm. To give access to everything at once, choose your home folder.

A grant covers every folder inside it and is kept between launches. To see or remove grants, open Settings > General > File Access.

Empty Trash does not work#

MeiFiles asks Finder to empty the Trash. The first time, macOS asks whether MeiFiles may control Finder. Click Allow.

If you see Could Not Empty Trash and a message about Automation:

  1. Open System Settings > Privacy & Security > Automation.
  2. Under MeiFiles, turn on Finder.
  3. Choose File > Empty Trash… again.

Open in Terminal does nothing#

  1. Open Settings > General.
  2. Check that the app chosen in Terminal is installed on your Mac.

Text on the glass is hard to read#

This applies to the New Era themes.

  • In Settings > Appearance, move the Glass slider to the left.
  • Or set Behind the panels to Generated or Solid. Desktop Through Glass shows your wallpaper, and some wallpapers make text harder to read.
  • Or turn on Reduce transparency in System Settings > Accessibility > Display. MeiFiles then uses solid panels.
  • Or choose a Classic theme in View > Theme.

MeiFiles also uses stronger colors when Increase contrast is on in the same place.

A server connection fails#

  • Check the address, port, user name and password.
  • MeiFiles connects over FTP, WebDAV and S3. SFTP and SMB are not available in the Mac App Store version.
  • A slow server may need more time. Increase Connection timeout in Settings > Operations.
  • If a pane shows Connection Lost, click Reconnect.

Put settings back to their defaults#

Most sections of Settings have their own reset button:

WhereButton
Appearance > FontsReset to Skin Defaults
Appearance > Custom ColorsReset All to Skin Defaults
Appearance > File Type ColorsReset All File Colors
Viewer > ZoomReset to 100%
KeyboardReset All Defaults
Toolbar > Toolbar ItemsReset to Defaults
Toolbar > Command Bar LabelsReset All to Defaults

To reset everything, quit MeiFiles, then enter this command in Terminal:

sh defaults delete orensoft.MeiFiles

Caution: This also removes your folder access, bookmarks and saved servers. Export your settings first if you may want them back.

See also#

Search MeiFiles guide

Search the user guide.