Unable to save files in Word 2016 for Mac on OS X El Cap

Anonymous
2016-02-18T19:08:46+00:00

Hi folks,

I'm running into a situation affecting some but not all Macs at our office. We recently updated to Office 2016 (via Offiec365), and are running into problems with Word in particular. 

What's happening is that after opening or creating a new document and making changes, typing ⌘-S to save does not do anything, and the Save and Save As options are grayed out in the menu. Closing the window or quitting Word will trigger the "Do you want to save..." dialog, which then appears to allow you to save the document, but the document that is actually saved is completely blank. 

Has anyone encountered this also? It's affecting a couple of iMacs and a MacBook Pro, but some iMacs and laptops are not experiencing the same problem.

Thanks,

Tom

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For home | Windows

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Anonymous
2017-02-13T23:50:13+00:00

I had this issue persistently last year but it seems fixed now with latest releases all round. I suggest running Microsoft Autoupdate, and doing manually every few days too. Also join the optional Office Insider program to get latest fixes.

My system:

Word for Mac 15.32 (170201)

MacBoook Pro (2016), 10.12.3

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  1. Anonymous
    2016-04-08T01:41:59+00:00

    I've been plagued by this, but since yesterday's (7 April 2016) WORD update (15.21) I've done 12 hours' work with no problem. Fingers crossed this had (deliberately or not) fixed the SAVE issue.

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  2. Anonymous
    2016-04-06T22:38:43+00:00

    Thanks John, but yes - that's pretty much what I've been doing (and I noted above that using latest versions of OS and Word). Looks like a hybrid problem to me, ie, it's a problem with how the OS is handling Word files. Very much hope Microsoft and Apple work on this together soon - I only just decided to stick with Office this time.

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  3. Jim G 134.1K Reputation points MVP
    2016-04-06T13:38:56+00:00

    It's a catch-22. Word loses the ability to save, and then attempts to write over the file that is currently open. But it can't write the file that is currently open because it is open and can't be overwritten while it  is open.

    The solution is to cancel, then use File > Save As, and rename the file. Save the renamed file and quit Word. Actually, I would restart my computer. Then, in Finder, rename the original file something else (just in case the new save isn't good) and then rename the fresh file to the original file name. Open it, and if it is OK then delete the file that would not allow itself to be overwritten.

    This could be a problem with Word, but it seems more likely to be a problem with Mac OS. You didn't tell us your update levels of either Mac OS or Office, so the next thing to do is to update both.

    Make sure your Mac has a working internet connection, then:

    Update Mac OS X. Open the App store and click on the Updates button. Install the updates.

    After, in any Office application go to the Help menu and choose Check for Updates to launch the AutoUpdate app. Let AutoUpdate install updates and then restart your Mac.

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  4. Anonymous
    2016-04-06T04:25:18+00:00

    Grab of the message I see in a loop on trying to save

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