Text Edit: Saving says "This File Does Not Exist"

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Text Edit: Saving says "This File Does Not Exist"

When I'm in Text Edit, it often won't let me save- claiming the file does not exist. Sometimes I'll open an older Text Edit file and make an edit, go to save again, and I get the same message. To remedy, it will let me save to the Desktop instead of say, a folder on the server that I'm working in. But even then- there are times that it will say the file does not exist when I go to save to the Desktop, but then it will just save it there anyway. Then I have to do a drag and drop into the correct folder I needed in the first place.

This doesn't happen all the time, but it happens enough for me to think something is clearly wrong. Just to give a run-down, this happens on my work computer. It's a Mac desktop. Running Mac OS X Version 10.6.8. If anyone has any thoughts on the problem, I'm all ears. I'm also not terribly tech savvy in the way some other people are in this community. But I know my way around a computer pretty well.

Posted on Oct 27, 2011 1:29 PM

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Answer 1

jz-

Level 1

0 points

Mar 6, 2015 4:54 PM in response to amnicr

Copied from another thread for those who can't find the solution:

"The problem when you get that "The document Untitled could not be saved as "-----" . The file doesn't exist" message is actually nothing more than a Pathway problem. The pathway Text Edit wants to use has been corrupted and TextEdit has no idea where to turn.

Odds are VERY likely that if you look at the "start" folder of the path from which you are trying to save (and from which you probably save regularly), it is NOT the Top-Level Hard Drive Folder, but some folder inside the hard drive, possibly nested several layers in.

To Fix This:

1) Create any New TextEdit document, and click Save.

2) When the Save Dialogue box pops up, navigate BACKWARDS to the absolute Top Level Folder of your Mac (probably called something like "Macintosh HD" or the like - we are talking the level ABOVE your User name / account).

3) Click on that Top Level, and then navigate from there down through your User account to the actual folder where you would like to save your document. It does not matter how deep your desired folder is located as long as you Start from the absolute Top Level of your entire system.

4) Click Save. It should save Just Fine. 🙂

What you basically just did was tell your Mac which way to turn - the "directions" the Mac was using got corrupted and the TextEdit save process got lost in the woods. Doing the steps above sets the save process back on the correct path."

Credits to "Shamovala McNerbstern-Ni" for the solution, from Document could not be saved file does not exist

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