# What does it usually mean if you get 'zero bytes' message when trying to transfer files on a MacBook Air? Are the files corrupted?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-usually-mean-if-you-get-zero-bytes-message-when-trying-to-transfer-files-on-a-macbook-air-are-the-files-corrupted/979783>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [February 14, 2023, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-usually-mean-if-you-get-zero-bytes-message-when-trying-to-transfer-files-on-a-macbook-air-are-the-files-corrupted/979783 "2023-02-14T18:07:45Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Octagon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/2acd7d/32.png) [@Octagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octagon)\
**Post date:** [February 14, 2023, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-usually-mean-if-you-get-zero-bytes-message-when-trying-to-transfer-files-on-a-macbook-air-are-the-files-corrupted/979783/1 "2023-02-14T18:07:45Z")

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What does it usually mean if you get ‘zero bytes’ message when trying to transfer files on a MacBook Air? Are the files corrupted?

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**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\
**Post date:** [February 14, 2023, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-usually-mean-if-you-get-zero-bytes-message-when-trying-to-transfer-files-on-a-macbook-air-are-the-files-corrupted/979783/2 "2023-02-14T21:29:53Z")

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Transfer how?

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**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\
**Post date:** [February 14, 2023, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-usually-mean-if-you-get-zero-bytes-message-when-trying-to-transfer-files-on-a-macbook-air-are-the-files-corrupted/979783/3 "2023-02-14T21:45:57Z")

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How big is the source folder? Are you able to access the files there?

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**Author:** ![Octagon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/2acd7d/32.png) [@Octagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octagon)\
**Post date:** [February 14, 2023, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-usually-mean-if-you-get-zero-bytes-message-when-trying-to-transfer-files-on-a-macbook-air-are-the-files-corrupted/979783/4 "2023-02-14T22:35:20Z")

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Files weren’t opening as usual. I couldn’t even back anything up as nothing would transfer. I just turned it off for several hours and It resolved itself. I thought it would. I backed everything up.