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User profile for user: sjp-09
sjp-09 Author
User level: Level 1
8 points

Unable to insert files/photos and save keynote

I have Keynote version 11.0.1., and for the past week I have been unable to insert images via drag and drop, or using the insert function in keynote. Each time I try to do either of these actions I receive messages that the file type is not supported, or that it could not be inserted. The files have been jpgs, and I have tried saving them as pngs, pdfs, etc. Basically anything else and it still doesn't work. The only way I can seem to get images into my presentation is by copy and pasting from another open program such as illustrator/indesign etc. which is obviously not leaving me with the most high res version of the images.


I also have not been able to save keynote documents at all (to my desktop, cloud, dropbox, work server etc.). Each time I try to do so I get a message that says "The document can't be saved. You don't have permission." I've tried going to finder> file> get info> and changing to read and write for everyone and it hasn't changed anything.


I've tried restarting my computer, restarting my keynote, checking if there is an update, deleting keynote from my computer and reinstalling, and nothing seems to make a difference.


Essentially my keynote is useless right now if all I can do is type in it and then not save my presentation haha.


MacBook Pro (2020 and later)

Posted on Apr 9, 2021 8:03 AM

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User profile for user: sjp-09
sjp-09 Author
User level: Level 1
8 points

Posted on Apr 16, 2021 6:05 AM

I made a new user account and it worked within that account. When I went back to my original account it was working again. Not sure what happened or how it was fixed but all seems to be working now. Thank you!

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User profile for user: rose_10
rose_10
User level: Community Specialist

Apr 11, 2021 8:20 AM in response to sjp-09

Greetings sjp-09,


We understand that you are having some difficulty saving content in Keynote, and we'd like to help. Begin by creating a new, test user account, to see if the issue remains there.


Set up users, guests, and groups on Mac


Once you know if the issue remains in that new administrator user account, Contact Apple Support with the results for further support.


Take care.

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User profile for user: Gary Scotland
Gary Scotland
User level: Level 7
25,898 points

Apr 11, 2021 3:51 AM in response to sjp-09

Try resetting Keynote as follows, complete all of the following steps in the order listed:


  1. ensure you have a current backup of all your user files, saved to a separate drive
  2. close all applications
  3. uninstall Keynote; for this procedure to work, an application removal tool must be used, App Delete has a free trial and works for this procedure. It can be downloaded from the developer’s website here:  App Delete
  4. empty the Trash (Finder > Empty Trash)
  5. restart the Mac (Apple Menu > Restart);  Immediately after the Apple startup sound, press the shift key on the keyboard, release shift when the Apple icon appears. Start up will take longer than usual as the Mac is performing a software repair of the start up drive
  6. After the Mac is fully powered up, restart the Mac normally:   Apple Menu > Restart
  7. reinstall Keynote from the Mac App Store Application
  8. Restart the Mac again




Test Keynote i

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User profile for user: Davvy81
Davvy81
User level: Level 1
4 points

Apr 20, 2021 5:33 AM in response to rose_10

Hi there rose_10, I'm also having this issue where adding images and saving/exporting Keynote files is not working in the recent update. Never had these issues before the update and it's making using the program really difficult. I have tried the technique suggested, creating a new test user account and Keynote works perfectly fine there, when logging back into my standard user account I get the same issues arising.


The only way that I can add an image, is if I quit the program and re-open. As soon as I add an image, any subsequent attempts to add an image are restricted and I get a message "The image "name of image" couldn't be inserted". Clicking into text fields is also a nightmare now as I get the spinning ball for 10 seconds each time before the cursor appears... Really frustrating.

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User profile for user: sjp-09
sjp-09 Author
User level: Level 1
8 points

May 2, 2021 4:38 AM in response to AyeYoKP

Hey! I made a new account and tried keynote in the new account and it worked fine, and then when I went to go back to my real account all of a sudden it was working fine... I don’t really know what happened but it seems to have fixed itself? If it’s happening again to you it might start acting up again though - just haven’t got to this phase yet I guess!

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Unable to insert files/photos and save keynote

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