Why is my MacBook Pro saving to a series of numbers and letters rather than to documents?

Thank you BobtheFisherman and Grant for replying.

I know it happens with Word for Mac documents, and maybe with Excel.

I am attaching a photo. The computer creates these, they are just there when I go to save.

Thanks Grant. It's wonderful to have an answer as everyone else has been clueless. However I still find it strange - where did those letter/number strings come from to begin with, why was it an option to save to way back when I adherently saved it to one the first time?

Just got off the phone with Apple and they had no idea what they were, so I will call the support person back and inform him. However, they did say that it is safe to have my MacBook Pro wiped clean, all new updated Apple software put back on, and that ALL files, including those saved to the numbered places, will be on my back up drives and can be reinstalled. (The wiping clean, etc. is their recommendation for the major problems my computer is having after working on it with them for way over a year and still having a very slow and problematic computer at this point, that they tell me don't even try to update until I do this.)

Would you agree that those docs, which only show in the library, would have been saved to my independent backup drives? ( I keep 2 just in case.) I have been told that iCloud will not have saved them so I need to use the back up drive.

But I've been told two different things about iCloud. First, I was told that when I turned iCloud back on it would ask about each document (that has already been put back on using the backup drive), saying it's a duplicate and I'd have to go through each one saying keep or don't. Second, I was told that iCloud is smart and will recognize that the document is already there and not ask about it. Since I have several thousand documents I don't want to have to respond to each one if iCloud works that way. Do you know which way it will go?

Off to the car dealer now as my car also broke down. When it rains it pours!

Thanks again!

Annie

Below is the Report from Etre Check that I just ran. I have no idea what the details in the report mean. If it makes sense to anyone and indicatesproblems please let me know. I will also call Apple Support and go over it with them.

Thanks,

Annie

Security

Your machine’s security settings. Click the About buttons to learn more about Apple’s security features and built-in malware protection.

Gatekeeper status should always be set to either Mac App Store and identified developers or Mac App Store.

System Integrity Protection status should always be set to Enabled.

Unsigned Files

These files are software that runs in the background and lacks a valid Developer ID signature from Apple. Malicious software like adware will usually be shown here. Unfortunately, legitimate software is sometimes unsigned too. Without a Developer ID signature, EtreCheck cannot tell the difference between legitimate and malicious software. EtreCheck may provide more information in a Details to help you determine if a file is legitimate or malicious.

You can use the Lookup button to research the software on Apple Support Communities. If you have any questions about any unsigned files, ask about them on Apple Support Communities and include your EtreCheck report.

If you are absolutely sure that the file is malicious, click the Remove button to remove it. You can also use the Reveal Config File and Reveal Executable buttons to manually remove them. Make sure to restart your machine if you remove any files. If you are unsure, please ask for help.

If a file has been incorrectly categorized, click the Report a problem button to have Etresoft review the file.

I WAS NOT ABLE TO GET THE CLIPBOARD AND SHARE TO WORK. HOWEVER, I HAVE COPIED THE ENTIRE REPORT AND PASTED IT HERE. SORRY TO BE SO INEPT AT THIS.

EtreCheck version: 4.3.6 (4D041)

Report generated: 2018-08-30 15:10:50

Download EtreCheck from https://etrecheck.com

Runtime: 3:12

Performance: Good

Problem: Beachballing

Description:

Computer is slow and frequently get the beachball. I have been working with apple for over 200 hours of phone time and they want me to have it wiped clean and then reinstall all the latest versions of their software and my data from my backup disc.

Major Issues: None

Minor Issues:

These issues do not need immediate attention but they may indicate future problems.

Unsigned files - There are unsigned software file installed. They appear to be legitimate but should be reviewed.

32-bit Apps - This machine has 32-bits apps that may have problems in the future.

Abnormal shutdown - Your machine shut down abnormally.

Hardware Information:

MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Late 2013)

MacBook Pro Model: MacBookPro11,1

1 2.6 GHz Intel Core i5 (i5-4288U) CPU: 2-core

8 GB RAM - Not upgradeable

BANK 0/DIMM0 - 4 GB DDR3 1600 ok

BANK 1/DIMM0 - 4 GB DDR3 1600 ok

Battery: Health = Normal - Cycle count = 157

Video Information:

Intel Iris - VRAM: 1536 MB

Color LCD 2560 x 1600

Drives:

disk0 - APPLE SSD SM0512F 500.28 GB (Solid State - TRIM: Yes)

Internal PCI 5.0 GT/s x2 Serial ATA

disk0s1 - EFI (MS-DOS FAT32) [EFI] 210 MB

disk0s2 500.07 GB

disk1s1 - Macintosh HD (APFS) 500.07 GB (307.11 GB used)

disk1s2 - Preboot (APFS) [APFS Preboot] 500.07 GB (20 MB used)

disk1s3 - Recovery (APFS) [Recovery] 500.07 GB (510 MB used)

disk1s4 - VM (APFS) [APFS VM] 500.07 GB (3.22 GB used)

Mounted Volumes:

disk1s1 - Macintosh HD 500.07 GB (189.05 GB free)

APFS

Mount point: /

Encrypted

disk1s4 - VM [APFS VM] 500.07 GB (189.05 GB free)

APFS

Mount point: /private/var/vm

Network:

Interface en5: Thunderbolt Ethernet

Interface en6: iPhone

Interface en7: iPad

Interface en0: Wi-Fi

802.11 a/b/g/n/ac

One IPv4 address

Interface en4: Bluetooth PAN

Interface bridge0: Thunderbolt Bridge

iCloud Quota: 136.24 GB available

System Software:

macOS High Sierra 10.13.3 (17D102)

Time since boot: About a day

System Load: 1.95 (1 min ago) 2.01 (5 min ago) 1.78 (15 min ago)

Security:

Unsigned Files:

Launchd: /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist

Executable: /Library/Internet Plug-Ins/JavaAppletPlugin.plugin/Contents/Resources/Helper-Tool

Details: Exact match found in the whitelist - probably OK

Launchd: /Library/LaunchAgents/com.oracle.java.Java-Updater.plist

Executable: /Library/Internet Plug-Ins/JavaAppletPlugin.plugin/Contents/Resources/Java Updater.app/Contents/MacOS/Java Updater -bgcheck

Details: Exact match found in the whitelist - probably OK

Launchd: /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist

Executable: /Library/PrivilegedHelperTools/com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper

Details: Exact match found in the whitelist - probably OK

32-bit Applications:

57 32-bit apps

System Launch Agents:

System Launch Daemons:

Launch Agents:

Launch Daemons:

User Launch Agents:

User Login Items:

AdobeResourceSynchronizer Application (? - installed 2015-10-13)

(/Applications/Adobe Reader.app/Contents/Support/AdobeResourceSynchronizer.app)

iTunesHelper Application (Apple - installed 2018-08-16)

(/Applications/iTunes.app/Contents/MacOS/iTunesHelper.app)

Internet Plug-ins:

iPhotoPhotocast: (installed 2013-03-16)

FlashPlayer-10.6: (installed 2018-08-16)

QuickTime Plugin: (installed 2018-01-25)

AdobePDFViewerNPAPI: (installed 2018-08-29)

AdobePDFViewer: (installed 2018-08-29)

Flash Player: (installed 2018-08-16)

SharePointBrowserPlugin: (installed 2016-10-14)

nplastpass: (installed 2017-03-02)

OfficeLiveBrowserPlugin: (installed 2013-03-12)

Silverlight: (installed 2015-06-20)

JavaAppletPlugin: (installed 2018-06-17)

Safari Extensions:

3rd Party Preference Panes:

Flash Player (installed 2018-07-27)

Java (installed 2018-01-24)

Time Machine:

Skip System Files: No

Mobile backups: Yes

Auto backup: Yes

Volumes being backed up:

Macintosh HD: Disk size: 500.07 GB - Disk used: 311.02 GB

Destinations:

4**************** [Local]

Total size: 4.00 TB

Total number of backups: 25

Oldest backup: 2017-12-11 19:45:31

Last backup: 2018-08-28 14:19:46

S***********************e [Local] (Last used)

Total size: 999.86 GB

Total number of backups: 17

Oldest backup: 2018-08-28 17:34:27

Last backup: 2018-08-29 09:33:46

Top Processes by CPU:

Top Processes by Memory:

Top Processes by Network Use:

Top Processes by Energy Use:

Virtual Memory Information:

Software Installs (past 30 days):

Diagnostics Information (past 7 days):

2018-08-29 10:44:21 Last Shutdown Cause: 3 - Hard shutdown

2018-08-29 10:00:59 Adobe Acrobat Reader DC.app Hang

/Applications/Adobe Acrobat Reader DC.app

2018-08-28 10:54:48 Preview.app Hang

/Applications/Preview.app

2018-08-28 10:22:28 backupd CPU

/System/Library/CoreServices/backupd.bundle/Contents/Resources/backupd

End of report