save as permissions

Question

I am trying to "Save As " a simple spreadsheet to an external drive. However, Excel will not allow me to do this. I get the following error message; "You do not have permission to save files to this location". I have reviewed Excel "Preferences" and cannot find any setting that will help me "Save as" to an alternate location. Not even my desktop. I can only save to the Excel program.

I went to Apple "Finder", "Get Info" and I have "Read and Write" access to the external drive, but I cannot save the spreadsheet to an alternate location.

Answer 1

Dear David,

Greetings! Thank you for posting in Microsoft forum.

Please check if the drive name is renamed to something else non-relational accidently. The name should not contain all numbers and special characters such as periods (.), commas (,), semi-colons (;), quotation marks ("), and so on. There should no forbidden character (: +  *  "   '   \  |  /  <  >  <<  >> {  }  {{ }}  [  ]  [[ ]]) in the name of hard drive, directory name or any file. Also, ensure the Excel workbook shouldn’t have any of the mentioned characters in it’s name.

As the error is related to disk permission, please Try repairing mac disk errors with Disk Utility

***Third-party link disclaimer:***Microsoft provides no assurances and/or warranties, implied or otherwise, and is not responsible for the information you receive from the third-party linked sites, or any support related to technology.

Besides, please ensure your Office apps are fully updated. The latest version of Microsoft 365 for mac is 16.68 (22121100). To check version, open any Office app such as Excel, go to the Excel menu and choose About Excel.

If the version appears lower, then manually update Office apps, click Help > Check for Updates from any of the Office app to get the latest build.

We appreciate your understanding that sometimes the initial suggestion may not resolve the problem; however, we can work together to narrow down and resolve the situation. If the above suggestions didn’t work, please provide us with the following information:

1. Please confirm the version of your Office apps. For this open any working app such as Excel, go to the Excel menu and choose About Excel.
2. Do you see the same error when saving Word/ PowerPoint and non-Office files such as Notes and Pages?
3. Since when are you getting the error?
4. If this happening with a specific Excel workbook? Please check if you can save other Excel workbooks.

If my understanding above is not consistent with yours, you can also post back and point that out.

Your understanding and patience will be highly appreciated. I hope that you are keeping safe and well!

Sincerely,

Neha | Microsoft Community Moderator