# Failed to read DDI data file **URL:** \ **Category:** USA\ **Created:** [March 31, 2026, 2:12pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/failed-to-read-ddi-data-file/7027 "2026-03-31T14:12:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jose\_Funes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/22d042/32.png) [@Jose\_Funes](https://forum.ipums.org/u/Jose_Funes)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2026, 2:12pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/failed-to-read-ddi-data-file/7027/1 "2026-03-31T14:12:38Z")
Hi, I am trying to read the ddi data (acs 2024) file, but I am getting an error message, see below. Please advise data ← read\_ipums\_micro(ddi) Use of data from IPUMS USA is subject to conditions including that users should cite the data appropriately. Use command `ipums_conditions()` for more details. Error: Cannot read file O:\Res. & Eval. Team@ R&E Data\IPUMS\_extract\usa\_00016.dat: Access is denied. ---
**Author:** ![Isabel\_Pastoor](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.ipums.org/isabel_pastoor/32/788_2.png) [@Isabel\_Pastoor](https://forum.ipums.org/u/Isabel_Pastoor)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2026, 9:45pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/failed-to-read-ddi-data-file/7027/2 "2026-03-31T21:45:21Z")
It looks like you are trying to use ipumsr to read in an IPUMS USA extract. Assuming that you also specified the corresponding xml file as ddi previously in your R code (and that the xml file you specified has the same extract number as the data file you are trying to access), I don’t see any obvious issues in your code. I have asked my colleagues who maintain ipumsr to review and confirm there is no issue on our end. In the meantime, my best advice is to ensure that your ddi codebook (e.g., usa\_00016.xml) and data file (e.g., usa\_00016.dat.gz or usa\_00016.dat – note that you do not NEED to decompress the file to read it into R) are stored in the same directory and that you are working out of that directory in your R session. ---
**Author:** ![Derek\_Burk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Derek\_Burk](https://forum.ipums.org/u/Derek_Burk)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2026, 2:29pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/failed-to-read-ddi-data-file/7027/3 "2026-04-01T14:29:49Z")
Two commands you could try to verify that the file exists at the expected path and that you have permission to read from it: `file.exists("O:/Res. & Eval. Team@ R&E Data/IPUMS_extract/usa_00016.dat")` `readLines("O:/Res. & Eval. Team@ R&E Data/IPUMS_extract/usa_00016.dat", n = 10)` ---
**Author:** ![Jose\_Funes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/22d042/32.png) [@Jose\_Funes](https://forum.ipums.org/u/Jose_Funes)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2026, 7:09pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/failed-to-read-ddi-data-file/7027/4 "2026-04-03T19:09:53Z")
> [@Derek\_Burk](#): > > `readLines("O:/Res. & Eval. Team@ R&E Data/IPUMS_extract/usa_00016.dat", n = 10)` I did run the file.exists(), I got TRUE, however when I ran the readlines() commands I get “Error: Cannot read file” Access is denied ---
**Author:** ![KariWilliams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/82dd89/32.png) [@KariWilliams](https://forum.ipums.org/u/KariWilliams)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2026, 4:39pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/failed-to-read-ddi-data-file/7027/5 "2026-04-09T16:39:23Z")
It seems like this could be a permissions issue. However, if you have access to other files in this directory it may be that your file did not download completely. If you are certain there is no permissions issue, I recommend redownloading the data file. Note that you do NOT need to decompress your data files if you are working with ipumsr. ---
**Author:** ![Hallie\_Nudelman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a587f6/32.png) [@Hallie\_Nudelman](https://forum.ipums.org/u/Hallie_Nudelman)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2026, 7:47pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/failed-to-read-ddi-data-file/7027/6 "2026-04-09T19:47:04Z")
I am also having this problem with the ACS 2024 file - when I attempt to extract the file, I get 16 million files of 0 MB instead of the .dat file. I’ve re-downloaded multiple times and keep having the same problem. I also seem to have access to older data extracts. Any suggestions? ---
**Author:** ![Ivan\_Strahof](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.ipums.org/ivan_strahof/32/626_2.png) [@Ivan\_Strahof](https://forum.ipums.org/u/Ivan_Strahof)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2026, 5:38pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/failed-to-read-ddi-data-file/7027/7 "2026-04-10T17:38:10Z")
This occurs when the default built-in Windows or Mac decompression tool is unable to correctly decompress the .gz data extract file. We recommend using [7-zip](http://7-zip.org/) for Windows and [The Unarchiver](https://theunarchiver.com/) for Mac instead to correctly decompress IPUMS data extracts. This is a different issue than what Jose is describing. ---
**Author:** ![Jose\_Funes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/22d042/32.png) [@Jose\_Funes](https://forum.ipums.org/u/Jose_Funes)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2026, 8:46pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/failed-to-read-ddi-data-file/7027/8 "2026-04-10T20:46:16Z")
I downloaded the dataset again, it worked this time. Thank you.