Operation not permitted when executing ls in home directory

Question

I want to list all the files inside ~/Downloads directory on macOS Catalina. When I execute ls I get the following error:

ls
ls: .: Operation not permitted

ls command works in other directories (Desktop, Documents, etc.):

What is the problem? How can I fix it?

drwx------   2 subdan  staff    64 Feb 17  2020 Applications
drwx------@  7 subdan  staff   224 Sep 21 20:04 Desktop
drwx------@ 14 subdan  staff   448 Sep 21 18:24 Documents
drwx------@  7 subdan  staff   224 Sep 21 19:54 Downloads
drwx------@ 77 subdan  staff  2464 Sep 21 10:11 Library
drwx------+ 10 subdan  staff   320 Jun 12 17:18 Movies
drwx------+  6 subdan  staff   192 Jun 12 17:18 Music
drwx------+ 15 subdan  staff   480 Jun 12 17:18 Pictures
drwxr-xr-x+  5 subdan  staff   160 Dec 30  2019 Public

In ~, run ls -l. You'll probably find the owner of ~/Downloads is no longer yourself, or it is not owner-readable. — Stewart, Sep 21 '20 at 17:06
https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/10/what-does-the-mean-in-ls-l — subdan, Sep 21 '20 at 19:55

score 5 · Accepted Answer · answered Sep 21 '20 at 20:04

5

Catalina has separate controls to limit access to Desktop, Documents and Downloads.

go to System Preferences
open "Security & Privacy"
click on the "Privacy" tab
in the list on the left select "Files and Folders"
in list on the right look for "Terminal" (or iTerm if that is what you are using)
enable the checkbox next to "Downloads Folder"

answered Sep 21 '20 at 20:04

laktak

5,946

1

Thanks you, laktak! – subdan Sep 21 '20 at 20:10

Operation not permitted when executing ls in home directory

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