Final Cut Pro X share says "successful", but no file is created. How can I fix this?

When you share, what are your settings, exactly?

If you are not shown a common Save window to select the destination, it's probably because the export is set to add to the TV library.

Make sure that you are not adding to the TV library.

File->Share->Export File; select Settings;

Under Action, choose "Save Only", or "Open in Quicktime Player".

The screenshot is from 11.2, so it may not be exactly identical, but the principles are the same.

I was about to ask for screenshots before I saw Ben had beaten me to it. We need to see what you are seeing.

Anyway, something you can try is to Delete the Settings (aka Preferences).

Hold down the command and option keys as you launch FCP until a window appears. Then press the Delete Preferences button in that window.

FCP will open with an empty interface and you will have to reopen your project.

How much free space have you got on your hard drive?

This and many other vital questions could be answered if you downloaded and ran etrecheck as Ben requested earlier.

https://etrecheck.com/en/index.html

It's perfectly safe, is used by us all the time and was developed by a respected member of these forums.

OOPS! Sorry but I forgot you had already done it . . . . anyway there's no harm in doing it again.

If you are ultimately unsuccessful in getting FCP to work you have at least 2 options to continue editing . . . iMovie and the free version of DaVinci Resolve . . . I don't think it would be worth purchasing FCP until you have a more modern computer (M series) even assuming you could buy an old version.

iMovie gets a bad press but it is more capable than most people imagine.

The free version of Resolve has more features than FCP (barring the Voice Isolation and Magnetic Mask). It also has features comparable to Compressor and Motion built in.

The only downside is it has a slightly steeper learning curve but if you are serious about editing that should be no problem.

Of course with your present Mac you would not be able to use the latest version but that would not matter because unlike Apple, BlackMagic provides downloads of all its previous versions both free and paid.

https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/support/

Select the Resolve& Fusion square and then scroll down the left hand side of the page to see the hundreds of versions available.

With your current Mojave you would have to use version 16.?.?

Version 17 requires Catalina.

jlylesegal wrote:

The export file window does not specify where the file is to be saved.

It will, if you change the "Action" popup.

By default, on my previous machine, the file would save to Itunes media (although I never understood why it wouldn't save to movies instead.). It doesn't show up anywhere on my drive now. I've searched with the search tool, and manually. It's just not there. I can't remember the exact tech language, but Apple Support said that at the end of the process FCP generates a wrapper(?) for the file, and their guess was that it keeps failing at that stage. I don't know if or how that is fixable without reinstalling the software.

That now has been subsumed by the TV application. That is where your movie is, almost surely.

You are probably saving it to somewhere unusual as Luis said.

The final save window looks like this. Make sure you are saving it to somewhere you can access easily like the desktop in this instance.

Another thought! You could type the title into Spotlight to find where the file is residing.

Alternatively just ask FCP to share again and note the destination in that final save window.

Give us screen shots of your export window panes. What exactly are your export settings? And run etrecheck.

To clarify Luis' comments make sure Settings is selected and QT Player or Save Only in Actions.

I have explained to you already. See my post above. If still in doubt, post a screenshot as Ben requested, so we can see exactly how you are exporting.