FIX: Greyed Out Folders on Mac OS

Recently I had an issue with my Synology NAS Music folder that I use with Plex Media Server. Hundreds of folders were ghosted or greyed out an inaccessible.

I was able to access the files through the Synology Disk Station web interface, not via Mac Finder and Plex could not access the files.

Solution

All the inaccessible files had a “creation date” of 1984. Multiple websites explain that updating the creation date to something current would fix the problem.

The quickest way to do this that work for me was using Skytag’s FileBuddy.

As an aside I attempted a command-line string “touch -t 201911240000 /Volumes/MUSIC/*” but it didn’t work for me. I was able to change the date modified, but not the date created.

Once you install File Buddy the process is rather simple.

1. Select all the folders and drag them to top of the File Buddy program icon on the Dock.
2. Once File Buddy opens, click OK on the Get Info screen if it appears.
3. You should get a screen similar to the one above. Simply change the Created Date using the drop-down, I just used Current Date and Time.
4. Click “Change All”. This may take a few minutes if you have lots of files. Once complete the problem should be fixed.

I honestly don’t know what caused the problem in the first place, but wanted to pass along what I found to be the quickest solution.