However, they perform no function on other file systems, so when you see one on a USB stick that you use on Windows PCs and your Mac or a network drive, it’s because the other file system has made it visible. DSStore, which contain lots of information about other files on your Mac and are essential for Finder to function correctly.

Your Mac stores hundreds of invisible files like. And the error code -36 indicates that the file can’t be read or written.

That ‘.’ means the file is hidden in the Finder. For example, ‘.DSStore’ is one file that may cause the error. When you see the file name, you may notice that it has a ‘.’ before its name and an ‘’ later in the name. And the error message will helpfully tell you which file is giving problems. It usually means that the Finder can’t read some or all of the data in the file. Error code -36 relates to actions in the Finder, such as moving, copying, or deleting files. What is error code -36?īefore we tell you what to do when you see the error message, let’s talk about what it means.

But what about those rare occasions when it doesn’t just work? One example is when you see an error message on your Mac that says something like ‘The Finder can’t complete the operation because… (Error code -36).’ In this article, we’ll show you what to do when you see that error code. Most of the time, when we do stuff like copying and moving files on our Macs, it just works. But to help you do it all by yourself, we’ve gathered our best ideas and solutions below.įeatures described in this article refer to the MacPaw site version of CleanMyMac X. So here’s a tip for you: Download CleanMyMac to quickly solve some of the issues mentioned in this article.

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