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Can't save any Keynote-files because I lack permission (even though I'm admin)?!

I'm on a new M2 Macbook Pro, Sonoma 14.1.1, newest version of Keynote. In any other context, I'm both an experienced Keynote user, and and a very experienced Mac user.


Since I got my new computer last week, I have been unable to save files from Keynote – when I try, I get an error that says "the document could not be saved because you don't have permission". This happens no matter which Keynote file I try (existing or new), and no matter which folder I try to save to. All other applications let me save files wherever I want to, so this is exclusively a Keynote problem. I'm the only user on my computer, and have admin rights.


In addition to this, I cannot add videos or images to Keynote either – "This media file could not be inserted". Again, doesn't matter which file I try, it's the same for all of them (those are straight forward mp4 files that have been used in Keynote before, so nothing wrong with the videos).


What is going on? Is the latest Keynote version corrupted? I tried to call Apple earlier today, but their only idea was to update from Sonoma 14.1 to 14.1.1, which made no difference, and also told me they don't seem to know a real solution.


Anyone with similar issues? Any ideas on how to fix this?


Thanks in advance!

Posted on Nov 14, 2023 9:02 AM

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Posted on Nov 16, 2023 6:21 AM

O. M. G. I found a solution. After talking to Apple Support twice, deleting and re-installing Keynote, Pages and Numbers, and innumerable re-starts working through my login items, one at the time, I found an old post from 2019 with a similar problem – and an actual solution. It's about the number of activated fonts. I would have never found this out myself (neither did any of the Apple supporters I talked to).


I'm not certain about the technical details, but it's something about Apple's sandbox and Appstore apps – there are 2.000 slots (don't know why or in what context), and for some reason, activated fonts take up those slots (independent of which font management app you use). So having more than 2.000 fonts activated 'blocks the slots', and causes these issues (Keynote, Pages and Numbers being unable to save documents while claiming lack of permission, and not being able to insert media of any kind).


I deactivated a number of fonts, and lo and behold, it fixed the problem. Crazy! I really hope this helps others in a similar solution, and can be found easier than the post I originally found the solution in.

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7 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Nov 16, 2023 6:21 AM in response to hanskfroschauer

O. M. G. I found a solution. After talking to Apple Support twice, deleting and re-installing Keynote, Pages and Numbers, and innumerable re-starts working through my login items, one at the time, I found an old post from 2019 with a similar problem – and an actual solution. It's about the number of activated fonts. I would have never found this out myself (neither did any of the Apple supporters I talked to).


I'm not certain about the technical details, but it's something about Apple's sandbox and Appstore apps – there are 2.000 slots (don't know why or in what context), and for some reason, activated fonts take up those slots (independent of which font management app you use). So having more than 2.000 fonts activated 'blocks the slots', and causes these issues (Keynote, Pages and Numbers being unable to save documents while claiming lack of permission, and not being able to insert media of any kind).


I deactivated a number of fonts, and lo and behold, it fixed the problem. Crazy! I really hope this helps others in a similar solution, and can be found easier than the post I originally found the solution in.

Nov 15, 2023 11:19 AM in response to hanskfroschauer

Wow. A problem that's 100% within Apple's sphere, and after 36 hours, and a call to Apple Support, I'm NO closer to a solution – this is rather scary. I've been an Apple evangelist for 25 years, even though quality and service have declined ever since.


Back when I started to use macs (in my case 1998, on iOS 9), everything was noticeably better than on the Windows side (not really the case anymore, sorry). Mac supporters knew what they were talking about. Apple-folk were dedicated nerds who knew more about the platform than anyone else (I myself held lectures to the danish Apple user community on "iTunes – what is it, and what can it do?"


Today, as I mentioned, you call Apple support (supposedly the ones who know most about the platform), and what do you get? A confused student whose best bet is to update your OS (which did not help at all) – in other words, they guess based on predefined scripts, as opposed to actually know what they're talkling about. A sad state of affairs.


Still, I would really like to stick with Keynote, and not have to resort to f'ing Powerpoint. And I need to do so until tomorrow. Any help? Please? Apple? I gave you thousands of dollars for more than 20 years. Anything?

Jan 17, 2024 3:34 PM in response to hanskfroschauer

OMG IT WORKED FOR ME AS WELL!!

I've tried everything, reinstalled Keynote, Pages, Numbers, multiple times, clean install, reset all permissions, called support: nothing helped.

Had 4000+ font activated (lol - got paranoid after having problems with Font Explorer in the past and stopped deactivating fonts 😬). Deactivated everything and voilà magically solved!

So relieved !!!

Nov 15, 2023 1:23 AM in response to hanskfroschauer

Minor update – I tried a suggested solution from an old thread: to restart in Safe mode, then to create files from Keynote, Pages and Numbers (problems apply to all of them). After another restart, this was supposed to fix the problem. Which it didn't, unfortunately.

While I'm in Safe mode, everything was fine. Was able to save files, and to insert media. But as soon as I went back to a 'normal' restart, the problems were back.

Nov 17, 2023 10:53 AM in response to hanskfroschauer

I’m facing exactly the same problem though I need to give a presentation with Keynotes in a few hours… I just tried to connect iPhone to my Mac and then it told me that I needed to upgrade the macOS from Ventura to Sonoma to do that. I followed the instruction and Keynotes broke. Apple, please fix this issue immediately. This is a super critical issue for me…

Feb 11, 2024 7:41 AM in response to dasc2023

Worked for me too.

I have >5800 fonts activated on my 14" MacBookPro M1Pro, running OS Ventura 13.5.2, latest N/K/P versions.


I deactivated the fonts, restarted the computer, launched Numbers, Keynote, and Pages, successfully saved the documents, and everything worked normally. It even saves the documents normally after activating all 5800 fonts installed on the computer. Insane!







Can't save any Keynote-files because I lack permission (even though I'm admin)?!

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