Troubleshooting Powerpoint Not Saving Files

PowerPoint is still a pretty popular presentation software despite the growing competition offering alternative nifty tools and features to create better, more engaging presentations compared to their PowerPoint counterparts.

Well, if you prefer to stick to PowerPoint but you’re having trouble saving your presentations, we’ve got a few potential solutions ready for you.

How to Fix PowerPoint Error Saving File

Make sure the file you’re trying to save is not a read-only file. You can’t edit and save read-only files.

1. Create a new presentation

As a quick workaround, you can open a new presentation file, copy all the slides from the presentation that won’t save and then paste the slides in the new presentation.

Save the new file on your desktop using the Save as option, don’t use the keyboard shortcut. Try saving it as a PPT if you can’t save it as a PPTX file.

2. Sign out using the PowerPoint button

Signing out of PowerPoint using the account options within the app could solve this issue.

Go to File → click on Account → click on the Sign out button. Then sign back in and check if that helped.

3. Repair PowerPoint

If the first workarounds did not work, try repairing PowerPoint.

Go to Control Panel and navigate to Programs → Programs and Features
Select Office 355/ Microsoft 365 and click on Change
You’ll be prompted to allow the app to make changes to your device, select Yes
Select Quick Repair and wait until the troubleshooter has fixed your issues
If the Quick Repair did not work, use the Online Repair option and check if you can now save your presentation.

4. Check for corrupted slides/diagrams/images

If you can’t save the file, check if there’s a problematic slide that’s breaking the save feature. It’s not uncommon for certain types of diagrams or images to cause this problem.

If there’s a slide or a group of slides that would not copy-paste, delete the diagrams and images from those slides and save the file. Removing the problematic objects should do the trick.

5. Disable Preview Pane in File Explorer

If Preview Pane is enabled in File Explorer, the feature counts as another user having the file open before you. As a result, the system places the file in Read-Only mode.

To bypass this glitch, open File Explorer, click View and deselect the Preview Pane option.

6. Reinstall PowerPoint

Reinstalling a fresh copy of PowerPoint could get you out of trouble.

Open the Control Panel → select Uninstall a Program
Select Microsoft Office → click Uninstall and follow the instructions to uninstall Office
Reboot your computer and reinstall Office from Microsoft.

How to Avoid Save Errors in PowerPoint

Here are some pieces of advice to help you avoid similar problems in the future:

Keep Office up-to-date
Don’t use special characters in your PowerPoint file name
If you need to add diagrams and images on your slides, do it on a blank slide and don’t add text on the respective slide
Disable Preview Pane in File Explorer.