AutoCAD for Mac startup - The directory may be locked by another process or have been set to Read Only

April 22, 2022 Bob Felton

Issue:

After installing AutoCAD for Mac or AutoCAD LT for Mac on a new MacBook Pro, iMac, or Mac Mini, the first start of the program causes an error to appear: 

"The directory may be locked by another process or have been set to Read Only"

The path to the Autodesk folder may be listed as:

'/Users/[the specific Username]/Library/Application Support/Autodesk'.

 

Causes:

Insufficient permission for the Mac user for the Autodesk folder. Also the solution to Un-install and reinstall in the Autodesk Technical Article "The directory may be locked by another process or have been set to Read Only" when launching AutoCAD / AutoCAD LT for Mac does not work.

Further, the path to the Autodesk folder cannot be found:

 

Solution:

The path to the Mac user's Autodesk folder needs Read & Write permission set.

But, the Library folder may not be visible at the path specified.

To show hidden folders, press Command+Shift+Period on the keyboard at the same time when in the Finder.