On macOS 26.4, when I try to save a file from Chrome browser, if I include a space in the filename in the "Save As" dialog, the system either clears the entire filename or refuses to save the file.
William Zeallor wrote:
In my case, if a space is anywhere after the period, the Save As name field fails to populate. So, in Word for example, using Save As on "Report 2026.01 Final.docx" results in a blank Save As name field. The file name can't even be pasted into the field.
Indeed, that's the bug. Unless/until it's addressed by Apple, your only recourse is to use a different file name.
neuroanatomist wrote:
This appears to be a bug in macOS 26.4. It is not limited to browsers, it also occurs in Save / Save As dialog boxes native apps (e.g. Keynote) and 3rd party apps (e.g. MS Word). Typing a filename with period-space results in the field being cleared, pasting in copied text with the period-space anywhere in the text fails.
Bugs can be reported to Apple here (but it seems Apple has not added 26.4 as an option, yet).
Feedback - macOS - Apple
Interesting. "Hide Extension" is not enabled for me. But, as soon as I hit spacebar somewhere after a period, "Hide Extension" becomes enabled and the entered file name is removed.
pmstoll wrote:
I have this issue on Mac products, not just third party. I noticed it using Preview and Word.
This is a glitch which needs to be fixed because I label many of my files with periods. Very annoying.
periods are not part of the acceptable file names in macOS— the period is used as the separator for file type,
or leading hidden files. ex:
Cross platform acceptability and
some characters to avoid in filenames:
:
/
\
<
>
|
?
*
periods (.)
Others listed here:
Cross-platform filename best practices and conventions - Apple Support
https://web.archive.org/web/20160217141028/support.apple.com/en-us/HT202808
for your "very annoying" —submit your feedback here: Product Feedback - Apple
neuroanatomist wrote:
leroydouglas wrote:
periods are not part of the acceptable file names in macOS— the period is the separator for file type, or leading hidden files.
Really?
https://discussions.apple.com/content/attachment/818821e4-01c9-4094-9e55-60641d73c006
Official Apple Support Community
FYI, while it can work, I have found macOS may have some quirks here & there (cannot recall any specifics at the moment). And I encountered an issue when using Python to access a file with multiple dots/periods (it was due to importing Python modules) so it was more a programming issue, but still shows some things don't like the unexpected.
Seems to work just fine, as long as there is no space after the period (which is a recent Tahoe bug).
Spaces around any non-alphanumeric character should be avoided in general. It just makes it more likely that either the Finder will have an issue, or even more likely a command line utility will have a problem.
leroydouglas wrote:
periods are not part of the acceptable file names in macOS
That's not true - periods are fully acceptable, as well as spaces.
It's quite a serious bug and must be addressed urgently.
Although I suspect that some 3rd-party software is involved as most users are not affected by this bug (I can't reproduce it on two machines, for example).
Yes, something bizarre is definitely going on, and it does seem to be related to extensions.
For example, Google Chrome (for which the original problem was reported) doesn't even offer the "Hide Extension" option (which is a good thing). But if I remove manually the file extension in the Save dialog there, the file name does disappear. Apple screwed up royally somewhere in this update.
Camelot wrote:
Saves just fine OMM (Tahoe 26.5/Word 16.107.4)
tsk, tsk...
It would be nice if the beta version fixes this bug. Problems with periods in file names is a known problem in 26.4.
But I want to strongly caution anyone against installing any Apple beta software. These problems in 26.4 are the 5th minor release for Apple's current operating system. And it's riddled with new bugs. So what do you think you're going to get with a beta? Sure, it might fix this bug, but what about all of the new bugs that it will introduce?
People need to break this addiction to software updates. The only stable version of macOS right now is macOS 15. Apple has completely lost control of software updates and quality control. I recommend 15.7.3. It's really delicate, even with Sequoia. So many users have installed Tahoe that there's less testing for later versions of Sequoia. Any version of Tahoe is right out.
Updated to 26.4.1 this morning, and I'm experiencing the same after attempting to save as... after inputting Rev., then hitting the spacebar, the field clears. If I click on a similar file name to save as and then attempt to edit it, it will also delete the file name field.
The issue is hitting the space bar, not using a "." in the file name. I've been using the same naming system for my ID files for many years, and this presented immediately after making the update. As mentioned, if you try a workaround, which I often use as well - save as and clicking on a previous file to get that name and want to edit the file name... If my cursor is placed after the 3 (Rev. 1.0 v3.Indd) and I hit delete to backspace with the intention of changing the 3 to a 4, the entire file name is deleted.
Further testing on my machine showed a subtle difference for Excel files. A period anywhere in the original filename will not cause the name field to be blank in "Save As", but if I try to append any characters to the end of such an Excel file's name in that dialog box, the name field will go blank at that point. For Word, PowerPoint, or Acrobat, the name field simply fails to populate in the first place.
I have this issue on Mac products, not just third party. I noticed it using Preview and Word. This is a glitch which needs to be fixed because I label many of my files with periods. Very annoying.
It happens no matter when I do a Save As, not just from Chrome. It happens in Word, Preview, Excel, Safari. THIS NEEDS TO BE FIXED!
leroydouglas wrote:
periods are not part of the acceptable file names in macOS— the period is the separator for file type, or leading hidden files.
Really?
Seems to work just fine, as long as there is no space after the period (which is a recent Tahoe bug).
In my case, if a space is anywhere after the period, the Save As name field fails to populate. So, in Word for example, using Save As on "Report 2026.01 Final.docx" results in a blank Save As name field. The file name can't even be pasted into the field.
Camelot wrote:
Saves just fine OMM (Tahoe 26.5/Word 16.107.4)
The current public release of macOS is 26.4.
Apple security releases - Apple Support
If that wasn’t a typo, then apologies but you should know better than to discuss Apple’s beta software here.
TX1911fan wrote:
It happens no matter when I do a Save As, not just from Chrome. It happens in Word, Preview, Excel, Safari. THIS NEEDS TO BE FIXED!
Yes, if you check some messages from the start of this thread you can find a hint on when it will be fixed.
macOS 26.4: Chrome Save As fails with spaces in filename
