7 Ways to Overcome Word Cannot Complete The Save Due To A File Permission Error in Windows

If Word has trouble saving your file and sends the error message "Word Cannot Complete the Save Due to a File Permission Error", don't worry just yet. Here's how to overcome the word cannot complete the save due to a file permission error.

Microsoft Word is a very popular word processing application, but when saving a Word file, you may encounter an error saying, “Word cannot complete the save due to a file permission error”. This problem mainly appears when you try to save files copied from external sources.

This error makes you worry, especially if it contains important data. Luckily, it's pretty easy to get rid of this error message. Try the fixes below to get rid of the Word cannot complete the save due to a file permission error problem once and for all.

What Causes the Word Cannot Complete The Save Due To A File Permission Error Problem?

As mentioned above, this error usually appears when you try to save a file that doesn't belong to your system or has been copied from an external source. But there are more reasons which can cause this problem to occur. Let's check.

1. An error message will appear if you try to save a file that was previously saved as “read-only”.

2. If your user account does not have the proper permissions to access the file or directory where you want to save the file, you will most likely face the problem.

3. The problem can also be caused by a third-party antivirus program installed on the system.

Now that you know what is causing the problem, let's try some methods to solve this problem.

How to Overcome Word Cannot Complete The Save Due To A File Permission Error

1. Try saving the file with a different name and location

Before getting into the technical fix, try saving the file with a different name and location. Turns out, if the file has been copied from an external source, Word won't be able to save it with its original name on your system. So, to fix this problem, consider renaming the file and saving it in a different location. Here's how to do it.

1. Click File on the top bar.

2. Select Save As from the left pane.

3. Choose a different location this time and name the file differently.

4. Click Save.

2. Turn off Antivirus Programs

Antivirus programs have a long history of interfering with application performance and functionality. And from the looks of it, the error in question can appear due to interference from a third-party antivirus program. So, consider disabling antivirus and check if that fixes the problem.

You can disable third-party antivirus programs by right-clicking on their icon in the system tray and selecting to disable protection from the context menu. If you are using Microsoft Defender, follow the steps below to disable Microsoft Defender in Windows 11.

Turn off Antivirus Programs

1. Open the Start Menu, type Windows Security and press Enter.

2. Select Virus & threat protection from the left pane.

3. Click Manage settings.

4. Disable the toggle under Real-time protection.

Just that. Try saving the file again and check if the problem still persists.

3. Take Ownership of the File

An error message will appear if you don't have full access to the file. This will often happen when files come from external sources. As a workaround, you can try taking full ownership of the file. Here's how to do it.

Take Ownership of the File

1. Right click on File and select Properties from the context menu.

2. Switch to the Security tab and select the Advanced option.

3. Click Change next to Owner's description.

4. Select the Advanced option from the prompt that appears.

5. Click Find Now.

6. Select the user you want to give full access to the selected files and click OK.

7. Close all windows.

8. Right-click on File again and select Properties, then Security.

9. Click on Advanced options > Add.

10. Select Select a principal next to the Principal description.

11. Click Advanced > Find now.

12. Select an account and click OK.

13. Checkmark Full control.

14. Click OK > Apply > OK.

Full Control Permissions

4. Repair Microsoft Office

MS Word will not be able to save the file because the file is corrupted in Microsoft Office. You can get rid of these corrupted files by using Office's repair feature. Here's how.

Repair Microsoft Office

1. Open Settings using Win key + I.

2. Select Apps from the left pane.

3. Click Apps & features.

4. Click on the three dots next to Microsoft Office and select Modify.

5. Select Online Repair.

6. Click Repair > Repair.

Microsoft Office will now find and resolve corrupted files in the suite.

5. Launch Word in Safe Mode

The next solution to try is to launch Microsoft Word in safe mode and disable all extensions. You can do that by following the steps below.

Launch Word in Safe Mode

1. Open the Run dialog by pressing Win + R keys.

2. Type winword /safe in the box and press Enter.

3. Click File > More > Options.

4. Select Add-ins from the left pane.

5. Click the drop-down icon next to Manage and select COM Add-ins.

6. Click Go.

7. Select all unnecessary extensions and select Remove.

Relaunch Word and try saving the document.

6. Update Microsoft Word

If you are using an out-of-date version of Microsoft Word, chances are you will encounter Word unable to complete saving due to file permission errors. You will have to update Microsoft Word to fix the problem. Here's how to do it.

Update Microsoft Word

1. Go to Word > Files.

2. Select Account from the left pane.

3. Click Update Options before Office Updates.

4. From the context menu, select Update Now.

Once the update process is complete, reboot the system and check for the problem.

7. Download the Latest Windows Update

Microsoft is releasing a new update for Windows to fix minor issues and improve overall system performance. So, downloading the latest Windows update can be an effective way to deal with this error. You can do this by following the steps below.

1. Open Settings using Win + I.

2. Select Windows Update from the left pane.

3. Click Check for Updates.

Windows will now search for and download all pending updates.

Conclusion

So that's how to overcome the word cannot complete the save due to a file permission error. If you have all the necessary permissions, saving and managing files in Microsoft Word is very easy. But if you can't save the file due to permission error, try the above solutions to solve the problem.