Mac error code -43: what it means and how to fix it
Error -43 is fnfErr, file not found, another of the classic Mac OS error numbers still in daily use. The Finder reports it when an operation names a file that is not where the operation expects it to be: you are copying, moving, or deleting something that was already moved, renamed, or deleted, or whose name confuses the path. The message 'one or more required items can't be found' is honest; the detective work is figuring out which item the Finder went looking for and why it is not there.
What causes it
- The file was moved, renamed, or deleted between selecting it and running the operation.
- A shared or synced folder (cloud storage, network share) whose contents changed underneath the Finder.
- Problem characters in filenames, especially a period at the start or end or characters inherited from other systems.
- An alias or reference pointing to a file that no longer exists at the recorded path.
Fix it, in order
- Cancel and start the operation fresh. Re-select the files as they are now and retry. A surprising share of -43s are simply a stale selection meeting a changed folder.
- Check for the file by its exact name. Search in Finder for the item. If it exists somewhere else, it was moved; if it exists nowhere, it was deleted, and the original operation had nothing to act on.
- Rename files with odd names. Trailing periods, leading special characters, and names created on other operating systems can make a file visible but unfindable by path. A plain rename fixes the reference.
- For cloud-synced folders, let sync settle. Wait for the sync client to finish, or pause and resume it, so the Finder's view and the actual files agree again.
- Restart the Finder (Option-right-click the Finder icon in the Dock and choose Relaunch) if -43 keeps appearing for files plainly in front of you.
- Empty the Trash separately if the error appears there. A partially deleted item can block operations; deleting in smaller groups isolates the offender.
Be careful bulk-deleting around a -43. The error means the Finder's picture of the folder is stale. Refresh the view and confirm what actually exists before repeating a delete, so you act on the real contents rather than a ghost list.
Common questions
How can a file I can see be 'not found'? Because seeing it in a Finder window is a cached picture, while the operation looks the file up by its path. If the file was renamed, moved by a sync process, or has a name the lookup cannot reproduce, the picture and the lookup disagree, and -43 is the lookup's answer.
Is -43 a disk problem? Almost never. It is a bookkeeping problem, not a hardware one. The disk almost always contains exactly what the Finder would find if it looked with the right, current path.
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