After upgrade to Monterey, "Save" and "Save As" don't work when Sidecar is being used

Matthew,

The screenshot is a very helpful visual, thank you. If we understand correctly, this is what you see after you quit and reopen Photoshop, which means that it seems to function normally after you quit and reopen (effectively refreshing) the program.

• Is the what you see when you choose to save from the File > Save As... in Safari?
• If so, has the dialogue box that pops up always been this size?
• Does adjusting the scale at System Preferences > Displays > DisplaySettings > Resolution > Scaled in System Preferences when your iPad is connected impact anything?

Change Displays preferences on Mac - Apple Support

We look forward to learning more!

Matthew,

Thank you for taking us through the steps and outlining the differences between what it is supposed to look like and the abnormalities with Sidecar. We were mostly curious about whether adjusting settings would help, and now that we know it doesn't, you may need to reach out to Apple Support to either report the issue you're experiencing or work with an expert for more advanced troubleshooting.

If you haven't yet, you might create a new user account and test there to rule out potential settings or preferences in your main account.

Set up users, guests, and groups on Mac - Apple Support

If you opt to reach out to Apple Support, you can contact them here:

Contact Apple Support

Alternatively, the Product Feedback portal is a great way to report the issue you're experiencing.

All Our Best.

I have been experiencing a similar issue.

After the most recent update (12.0.1), I can't save or download any file format, from any app (Photoshop, Chrome, Indesign).

I have 2 monitors: a normal monitor(main display) and a wacom cintiq. This saving problem happens when I have both these on. I did some tests and noticed these pattern:

In Display Preferences, if I have the normal monitor set as main display:

• When I only have the normal monitor on, I can save normally.
• When I only have the wacom on, I cannot save at all.
• When I have both displays on, I cannot save at all.

In Display Preferences, if I have wacom monitor set as main display:

• When I only have the normal monitor on, I can save normally.
• When I only have the wacom on, I can save normally.
• When I have both displays on, I can save normally.

So a temporary solution for me is to set my secondary monitor as main display in settings. This issue definitely didn't exist before on my mac.

Thank you for this post! I thought I was the only one who experienced this issue since upgrading to Monterey.

My situation is a little different as I did not use Sidecar. It happens to a few applications already:

1. Microsoft Word and Excel. Now, I can't even use 'Save as' because the file dialog never pop up and I cannot save a file to another format. This is really annoying.
2. Scrivener - This is a writing app that I used and similar behaviour too - whenever I tried to use a function that will normally pop up a file dialog, it does not do anything! I spent many hours trying to re-install things and I don't even know what fixes it. This problem comes and goes.
3. Chrome - If this happens, whenever I tried to download something from Chrome, it will reach 100% but never complete the download because it has problem trying to open the file dialog to prompt me where to save the file.

As these applications are not related - at least not from the same providers, I suspect this must be some underlying OS API (which these apps invoke), such as open a file dialog, that is not working properly.

I have been having this problem intermittently, and when this problem arises, I don't know what I did to fix it because there are so many things that I did (including waiting for a few hours after trying many things that didn't work).

I am using Macbook Pro 16 (Intel) with at least one external monitor attached.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

p.s. At the moment, I have the following works and not working:

MS Excel - Save As (Not working) - However, if I make Mac the main display, then it works! Puzzling!

MS Word - Save a copy (Works!)

Scrivener - Save (Works!)

Chrome - Download (Works!)

I have two occasions where none of the above works.

Hi all.

I have the same issue. No "fix", but I have a workaround that works for me. Hopefully it helps someone here until the bug is patched.

1. I only get this when using a secondary display. If you get this on a single display then my fix doesn't help.
2. Go to Settings - Displays and set your laptop as your Main display. I usually have mine as my Secondary and my big screen as my Main.
3. Quit the app not working and try again.

I find the screen switching annoying. Thankfully these M1s screen switch quickly.

FWIW, the apps that don't work properly for me until I do this are:

• Audacity (anything to do with file handling, so open, save as, export, import, etc.) - always
• Filemaker (making pdfs) - always
• Numbers (save, save as) - not always, only sometimes

BTW if I set my displays to "Mirror" then I get the weird oversized modal with swathes of grey blank in the "finder window" part of the modal that Matthew was first flagging.

Hope that helps someone! I was getting colleagues to pdf my Filemaker reports until now 😂

-Andrew

I don't need sidecar to have same problems. InDesign, Photoshop and PowerPoint doesn't replay, when i ask to save as. Some programs do not save at all, like MindNode, that does not obey the quit command. Dialog boxes look almost tabula rasa and working gets impossible.

FWIW, I have an external monitor, and also an iPad, both extending the display from my 2019 16" MBP:

No trouble at all doing Save As... on either of the three displays. They all scale nicely, and display completely.

There was a mention of DisplayLink... this often needs updating to support new OS versions, so maybe that is involved, at least in some of those afflicted?

Hello, Matthew McNeil1. 

We appreciate you taking part in the Apple Support Communities and outlining issues you are experiencing with the new macOS Monterey release. If we understand correctly, you’re no longer able to save a file when you’re using you iPad to extend your display with the Sidecar feature but it returns to normal when you disconnect your iPad. 

Is this new to macOS Monterey in that you were able to save files using Sidecar on your previous macOS version? If so, we have a few questions: 

- Have you had a chance to update your iPad to iPadOS 15.1 yet?

- Are you mirroring your Mac desktop or extending it? 

- Does it seem to matter whether you’re attempting to save from an app that you are displaying on the iPad or Mac display?

- Where are you attempting to save the file? (e.g. iCloud Drive, locally to your Mac, etc.) 

Hopefully these answers will help us find an explanation or resolution together.

Warmest Regards.

Hi

I Have the same kind of issue with "save as" option on Ableton Live and Pro Tools. Same as Matthew, the "save as" box opens empty, I can't do anything. Also, when I open Pro Tools, I can't create a new file. It does the same kind of bug when the app wants to prompt the location of this new file I'm creating.

Important matter, all this happening only when I have my second screen plugged in. When I unplug the second screen, everything seems to be working fine.

Thanks a lot

Joka

I'm having the same problem when using a second display (extended desktop) So far it's been an issue when using Vectorworks and Sketchup. There's no way to save your work, you essentially have to disconnect the display, reopen the app, start over, save First, then reconnect your second display, save will work after that because there's no pop-up prompt, but you cannot Save As.

I hope Apple can resolve this quickly as it is counterproductive.

I have same problem when using DisplayLink Manager to support multiple displays. If I am not running DisplayLink Manager, I can use SAVE AS in Mac Word, etc.

Once I run DisplayLink Manager, I can no longer use SAVE AS functionality in Word, Acrobat, etc.

I have booted via SAFE mode and have same problem.

Running Monterey, v.12.0.1 on a MacBook Pro.

This is ridiculous. I cannot shutoff DisplayLink Manager without rebooting, which means I cannot use SAVE AS unless I reboot.

"Save as" dialog is not appearing "at all" in all Microsoft 365 apps nor in preview or "Save as PDF" when external monitor is connected ... simply speechless ... c'mon, let's fix that !!! MacBook Pro running 12.0.1 ... I have to disconnect external monitor and restart to have "Save as" window back in Office Apps and even in Preview and when I connect externarnal monitor "Save as" won't appear anymore ... seriously damaging my productivity ...