# can't open file **URL:** \ **Category:** macOS\ **Created:** [May 22, 2014, 10:11am UTC](https://forum.audacityteam.org/t/cant-open-file/34194 "2014-05-22T10:11:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![rubo](https://forum.audacityteam.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@rubo](https://forum.audacityteam.org/u/rubo)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2014, 10:11am UTC](https://forum.audacityteam.org/t/cant-open-file/34194/1 "2014-05-22T10:11:57Z")
It happens sometimes that files can’t be opened. I get 2 kinds of alerts: 1-file (location) could not be opened, no reason given 2-file (location) could not be opened, it has been moved; actually, this is not right as the file was never moved. Any idea why this happens and what can be done about it so that the file can be opened in Audacity= Thank you all for any help. ---
**Author:** ![Gale\_Andrews](https://forum.audacityteam.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Gale\_Andrews](https://forum.audacityteam.org/u/Gale_Andrews)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2014, 4:32pm UTC](https://forum.audacityteam.org/t/cant-open-file/34194/2 "2014-05-22T16:32:10Z")
> [@rubo](#): > > It happens sometimes that files can’t be opened. > I get 2 kinds of alerts: > 1-file (location) could not be opened, no reason given > 2-file (location) could not be opened, it has been moved; actually, this is not right as the file was never moved. > Any idea why this happens and what can be done about it so that the file can be opened in Audacity= Exactly what files are you trying to open? Does error 2 happen when you use File \> Open Recent in Audacity? What does Help \> Show Log… in Audacity say? What version of Audacity are you using? What version of Mac OS X? See the pink panel at the top of this page. You may want to open Finder, Go \> Utilities \> Disk Utility then run “Verify Disk” and “Repair Permissions”. Gale ---
**Author:** ![rubo](https://forum.audacityteam.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@rubo](https://forum.audacityteam.org/u/rubo)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2015, 3:50pm UTC](https://forum.audacityteam.org/t/cant-open-file/34194/3 "2015-04-24T15:50:33Z")
Gale Andrews wrote: _Exactly what files are you trying to open? Does error 2 happen when you use File \> Open Recent in Audacity?_ I’m trying to open audio files located in my computer. Error 2 happens also when trying to open recent, sometimes. _What does Help \> Show Log… in Audacity say?_ I do not recall having gone to jelp yo solve the issue. _What version of Audacity are you using?_ 2.1 _What version of Mac OS X?_ OS X 10.6.8 _You may want to open Finder, Go \> Utilities \> Disk Utility then run “Verify Disk” and “Repair Permissions”._ Done it a number of times; didn’t help. ---
**Author:** ![Gale\_Andrews](https://forum.audacityteam.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Gale\_Andrews](https://forum.audacityteam.org/u/Gale_Andrews)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2015, 10:31pm UTC](https://forum.audacityteam.org/t/cant-open-file/34194/4 "2015-04-24T22:31:45Z")
> [@rubo](#): > > Gale Andrews wrote: > > _Exactly what files are you trying to open? Does error 2 happen when you use File \> Open Recent in Audacity?_ > I’m trying to open audio files located in my computer. Error 2 happens also when trying to open recent, sometimes. > > _What does Help \> Show Log… in Audacity say?_ > I do not recall having gone to jelp yo solve the issue. To help debug the issue, I would still suggest you could go into Help \> Show Log… , save the log file then attach it here. Please see here for how to attach files: [https://forum.audacityteam.org/t/how-to-attach-files-to-forum-posts/24026/1](https://forum.audacityteam.org/t/how-to-attach-files-to-forum-posts/24026/1) > [@rubo](#): > > _What version of Audacity are you using?_ > 2.1 > > _What version of Mac OS X?_ > OS X 10.6.8 If Audacity \> About Audacity… says “2.1” then it’s a spoof version not made by us. It should say 2.1.0. If necessary you can obtain 2.1.0 from us here [Audacity download latest version](http://www.fosshub.com/Audacity.html). We still need to know what type of files you are trying to open. Are they AUP Audacity Project files, MP3, M4A, WAV or something else? Please note that to import M4A, MP4, MOV or ALAC into Audacity 2.1.0 you may need to install FFmpeg from [Audacity Manual](http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/faq_installation_and_plug_ins.html#macff). Gale