While many of the various core System and root directories will throw error messages in macOS Terminal too, you can also find the error message even when trying to work in the users own Home directory, including in many of the user ~/Library/ folders, like ~/Library/Messages ( where iMessage attachments and chat logs are stored in Mac OS) and ~/Library/Mail/ (where user-level mail plugins, mailbox data, and other Mail app data is stored), and many others.

If you have not encountered the “Operation not permitted” error message in the Terminal of MacOS (Mojave 10.14 or later) yet, then it’s likely because you haven’t wandered into a directory or file path that has the additional access restrictions (or that you don’t use Terminal, in which case this entire article is not for you).

Relaunch Terminal, the “Operation not permitted” error messages will be gone.

Navigate to the /Applications/Utilities/ folder and choose “Terminal” to grant Terminal with Full Disk Access privileges.

Now click the plus button to add an application with full disk access.

Click the lock icon in the lower left corner of the preference panel and authenticate with an admin level login.

Now select the “Privacy” tab, then from the left-side menu select “Full Disk Access”.

Choose “Security & Privacy” control panel.

Pull down the  Apple menu and choose ‘System Preferences’.

How to Fix “Operation not permitted” Error in Terminal for Mac OS This walkthrough will show you how to fix “Operation not permitted” error messages seen at the command line in Terminal for Mac OS in Mojave 10.14 or later.

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