Mac Error Code 0

It may make you wonder why any error code would have a 0 rather than a number to identify it. This is a good question that remains without an answer, but error code 0 does mean something in the world of Mac computers. The error message often says that the file cannot be copied or an unexpected error has occurred, code 0. This usually signifies that the file is too big to copy.

The Mac error code 0 is considered an unidentified error that typically occurs when transferring files that are bigger than 4GB to a FAT32 hard drive. The File Allocation Table (FAT) system is used on many computer file systems and memory cards as a way to organize data in a relatively simplistic way. It is commonly criticized because it is said to make poor use of disk space, which causes overloading. It is supported by almost all of the current operating systems, which makes it very versatile. Placing many files on a system that has a FAT32 system can cause the system to slow down and even crash.

A Mac has a file size limit of 4GB by design. This means that it is likely that you will receive an error message if the file that you are trying to download or copy is too large for the file system. Typically, this will occur when you are attempting to copy a large file to a disk that is in the FAT32 or MS-DOS format. These systems are not equipped to accommodate files that are larger than 4GB, even if there is enough space on the drive to do so.

If you are trying to copy a file of 4GB or larger, you will need to reformat the hard drive to accommodate the size of the file. You can reformat your hard drive by:

• Backup all of your files before attempting reformatting.
• Open the Disk Utility from /Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility.
• Double click on the Disk Utility program to bring up a list of all of the drives available on the computer.
• Choose the name of your hard disk by highlighting it.
• Select the Erase tab. This will display the options for erasing the hard drive and reformatting it to work on the Mac.
• From the Volume Format menu you will choose Mac OS Extended. It is also recommended that you name your hard drive.
• Click the Erase button and then click Erase again to confirm this is what you want to do.
• Once the erase function has finished, quit out of Disk Utility and then you can reload any data you have backed up from your backup copy.

Reformatting your drive should both eliminate the Mac error 0 and allow you to have more space on your hard drive.