File saving issues in Sonoma 14.5

[TanBrae]

My husband has been trying to switch from MS Excel to Apple Numbers. We recently installed Numbers on his two-month old Mac Mini. Having had file saving permission issues recently with Excel, I made sure all of his file saving permissions were Read-Write for him, who is also the Administrator.

We installed Numbers a few days ago, and today he started using it. However, when he tried saving it, he was told he does not have permission. This is a NEWLY created document in a NEWLY installed Numbers, so there is no way that I know to check and/or change the permissions.

After do some research, I had him try saving the document to the My Documents folder. That worked. However, that is not where he wants to save it. He can drag it to the Desktop, where he wants to save it, but that just makes that document an Alias.

So, HOW do I change that? How do I change the permissions if we can't even save a document ON the Desktop? We don't want Aliases.

And, as an aside, we've not had trouble saving documents of any kind prior to his computer being hit by an extreme power surge, taking it to the "hospital", having them recover the files and saving them to a flash drive, then downloading those files to the computer. At that time, ALL of his Excel documents were not able to have changes made to because, for some reason, he no longer had permission, even though when going to Get Info showed he did.

I don't know if it's a Sonoma issue, or some odd thing that, after many years of us using Apple computers we no longer know how to do things, is causing these permission issues.

I'm about ready to switch back to MS.

 

[OldSchool]

Change permissions for files, folders, or disks on Mac

On your Mac, assign permissions that allow users and groups to see or change a file, folder, or disk.

support.apple.com

Also check Files & Folders in Privacy & Security to see if the apps have permission to access files and folders.

 

[EugenDoga]

Hello TanBrae,

Try the following:

1. Check Desktop Folder Permissions:
   • Open Finder and navigate to the Desktop folder.
   • Right-click on the Desktop folder and select "Get Info."
   • In the Info window, scroll to the "Sharing & Permissions" section.
   • Ensure that your husband's user account has "Read & Write" permissions. If not, click the lock icon at the bottom right to make changes and set the correct permissions.
2. Reset Permissions with Terminal:
   • Open Terminal (you can find it in Applications > Utilities).
   • Use the following command to reset the permissions of the Desktop folder:
     sudo chmod -R 755 ~/Desktop
   • Enter your admin password when prompted. This command will ensure that the Desktop folder has the correct read and write permissions.
3. Check System Preferences for Security & Privacy:
   • Go to System Preferences > Security & Privacy.
   • Select the Privacy tab.
   • In the sidebar, select Files and Folders.
   • Ensure that Numbers has access to the Desktop. If it’s not listed, you might need to add it manually.
4. Reset NVRAM/PRAM:
   • Sometimes, resetting the NVRAM/PRAM can resolve odd permission issues. Shut down your Mac, then turn it on and immediately press and hold Option + Command + P + R. Keep holding these keys for about 20 seconds, then release them. Your Mac will restart.
5. Repair Disk Permissions:
   • Although macOS no longer has a direct "Repair Disk Permissions" option, you can try using Disk Utility to check for disk issues.
   • Open Disk Utility (you can find it in Applications > Utilities).
   • Select your startup disk and click on "First Aid" to check and repair any disk issues.
6. Create a New User Account:
   • As a test, create a new user account on the Mac and see if the problem persists in that account. Go to System Preferences > Users & Groups, click the lock to make changes, then click the “+” button to add a new user.
   • Log in with the new user account and try saving a Numbers document to the Desktop.
7. Reinstall Numbers:
   • Sometimes, reinstalling the app can resolve unexpected issues. Delete Numbers from your Applications folder and then reinstall it from the Mac App Store.

Best of luck!

 

[TanBrae]

Got it figured out, thanks! For some reason, he had to save to the Documents folder, then drag it to the Desktop. After he did that a few times, the file would save to the Desktop. Not sure what changed, but it's fixed, thanks!