When the zero-byte file is made, file system does not record the file's content on storage, but only updates its index table.Įven a file describing an empty word processor document, an image file with zero-by-zero dimensions, or an audio file of length zero seconds usually still contains metadata identifying the file format and describing some basic attributes of the file it results in the file with some positive size. Because writes are cached in memory and only flushed to disk at a later time ( page cache), a program that does not flush its writes to disk or terminate normally may result in a zero-byte file. Zero-byte files may arise in cases where a program creates a file but aborts or is interrupted prematurely while writing to it.

On Unix-like systems, the shell command $ touch filename results in a zero-byte file filename. 'Microsoft Agents' work for Microsoft Support.There are many ways that could manually create a zero-byte file, for example, saving empty content in a text or, using utilities provided by operating systems, or programming to create it. 'Independent Advisors' work for contractors hired by Microsoft.

I am an unpaid volunteer and do not work for Microsoft. Download the Microsoft Word installer and install Microsoft Word. Now that the foundation of the operating system appears to be OK, go to the Applications folder, and drag the Microsoft Word.app file to the trash. To run Office you need at least version 10.14 and it can run in all versions since 10.14 up to the latest version which is Big Sur 11.1Īnd that just came out and replaces 11.0.1 Go to the Apple menu and choose About this Mac. How to repair a Mac disk with Disk Utility - Apple There's no point trying to anything that works with files if the file system needs fixing.

What reason could that be? A corrupt file system, a hardware issue, or a bad install of Mac OS.įirst, make sure the file system is OK. It would seem the application simply did not install for some reason. A zero byte file means just that - the only thing that exists is the file name and there is no content whatsoever. Install issues are very rare on Macs, but it does seem to be an installation issue here. Quite often the same symptoms have different causes.

What causes a zero byte file