Raul Prieto writes in with an asymmetrical issue:
All of a sudden when I am trying to save a modified file with a different name in Excel in the same folder than the original, I get the attached reply [see figure] and cannot save it.
I checked in with Raul via email about whether the filename had a / (forward slash) in the name—it did! He was able to change the name in the Finder and save the file. While I wrote about problems saving files in Yosemite, this is unrelated—it’s not a permissions issue, either.
This is a very, very, very long-running problem that seems to crop up only with Microsoft apps. Create a file in any other program, put a slash in its name, save it, open it, modify it, and save it again. OS X handles it just fine. Do the same with a Word, Excel, or PowerPoint document and you receive an error.
Just rename the file and you’re back in business.
Excel says no permission to save because of that pesky slash.
PowerPoint says a file with a slash in its name has been moved or deleted.
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Author: Glenn Fleishman, Senior Contributor
Glenn Fleishman’s most recent books include Take Control of iOS and iPadOS Privacy and Security, Take Control of Calendar and Reminders, and Take Control of Securing Your Mac. In his spare time, he writes about printing and type history. He’s a senior contributor to Macworld, where he writes Mac 911.