0x800700A1 — An operation was attempted that is not supported The action is valid for the file type but not for this file’s state.
Work through these in order
- Copy the file to a writable volume first
- Choose a conversion the format supports
- Eject and re-insert the removable disk
Note
Keep originals read-only and work on copies.
Last looked over 2026-10-05 by R. Okonkwo.
Before changing anything
The code above is what an application reports; it is not a diagnosis of what went wrong. Two checks are worth doing before permissions are touched: whether the file is on a volume the application can actually reach, and whether the file was moved or renamed since it was last opened. Both report as this code more often than a permission problem does.
Pages in this section describe the code as applications report it. Where a fix is listed here, it is one the library has seen work on a real file; where nothing has been confirmed, the page says so instead of guessing at a cause.