Cannot save document in word “file permission error“ (Word for Mac)

Question

I cannot dave document in word on mac “ file permission error “

Answer 1

Hello Phyllis Solomon,

Welcome to the Microsoft Community.

This may be related to Word template errors, disk read/write permissions, application compatibility, etc. We recommend that you try the following steps in turn to see if they help.

1. Delete Normal.dotm file

1. Close Word completely.
2. Press Command + Shift + G on the keyboard and enter**~/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T346G9.Office/User Content/Templates**
   
3. Locate Normal.dotm file and delete it.

2. Change the folder permissions

1. Locate the directory in which you want to save your Word file.
2. Right-click the directory and choose Get Info from the menu.
3. At the bottom, click the lock icon and enter your password.
4. Now change settings from Read only/Write only to Read and Write for all users on the list.
5. Save changes.

You can also use this method on a file that you copied from another computer or a flash drive If it’s giving you this error.

3. Restart Word and your Mac

1. When you encounter the error, close Word.
2. Wait for 30 seconds and start Word again.
3. If the issue appears again, restart your Mac.
4. Once your Mac restarts, check if the problem is still there.

This is just a workaround, but several users reported that it helped them with File permission errorin Word.

4. Make sure that macOS and Microsoft Office are up to date

1. Open the Apple menu and go to System Preferences.
2. Now go to the Software Updates section.
3. Click Update Now to install available macOS updates.

To update Microsoft Office, do the following

1. Open any Office application.
2. Go to Help > Check for Updates.
3. Select Let Auto Update check for and install updates.
4. Restart your Mac.

I hope this is useful and please feel free to ask any questions or share any results.

Best regards,

Ian - MSFT | Microsoft Community Support Specialist