Cannot save a Matlab file
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MiauMiau
on 2 Feb 2013
Commented: Andreas Schnell
on 20 Nov 2023
Hi
I know this is not tech support, but since I have updated Matlab to 2012b I experience having lots of problems, so maybe you have some tipps..
So, I have the exact same problem some user posted earlier:
>>I create a new m-file and want to "save it as..." it does not change its name from "untitled" in the Editor and the little star telling i is unsaved does not disapear"<<
..? Any advice? Would be much appreciated
7 Comments
Jan
on 3 Aug 2017
@Aniruddha Nandi: And it is a really good idea, that you are not allowed to create files in C:\Program File\Matlab\R2016a\bin. You could overwrite important Matlab functions otherwise and even the security concept for the virus protection would be perforated.
Dubravka
on 5 Nov 2023
Where Matlab automatically switches me to save the document, I cannot save the document. But I solved it by opening a new folder on the desktop and I save all the programs there without any problems
Accepted Answer
Shashank Prasanna
on 2 Feb 2013
The reason you are probably seeing this is that your MATLABs current path is somewhere in Program Files where MATLAB has no write permissions. Confirm by: >> pwd
Navigate to some folder where you have write permissions, desktop or some documents folder and try to save your file, it should work fine.
If you have to - have to save it in the program files folder, then launch MATLAB as an administrator, if you have the permissions, by right click MATLAB icon and launch as admin.
5 Comments
Walter Roberson
on 12 Oct 2020
Edited: Image Analyst
on 12 Oct 2020
Szabolcs, what happens if you try to save the file into tempdir() ?
filename = fullfile(tempdir(), 'test.jpg');
testimg = imread('cameraman.tif');
imwrite(testimg, filename);
Does the above work?
If it does, then the problem is that you do not have write permission to the directory you are trying to write to, or the directory does not exist.
More Answers (13)
Shawn
on 21 Feb 2014
Try launching MATLAB with administrator permission and save the file. I had the same problem and fixed successfully with this. How come MATLAB application does not notify anything about this problem
6 Comments
Walter Roberson
on 15 Oct 2018
In MS Windows, right click on the MATLAB icon, and select Run As Administrator
Image Analyst
on 15 Oct 2018
Again, this is not the preferred solution. The preferred solution is to just save your m-files in a folder where you have permission to write to. One place you DO NOT have permission to write to is anywhere under the Program Files folder.
Image Analyst
on 2 Feb 2013
What do you mean "it does not change its name from "untitled""? You have to do that. You type in the name you want. I just did it to prove to myself it works. I created a new script. I typed in "delete_me" for the filename and I clicked the save button, and it worked just fine.
Or do you mean you tried to type over the name "untitled.m" and no characters appeared in the edit field. No matter how much you type, character just did not appear, and so they did not replace untitled.m?
3 Comments
Image Analyst
on 3 Feb 2013
Are you using Windows 7? If so, click the Start button. Then in the "Search programs and files" edit field, type in PSR. Then click psr.exe when you see it. Then tell it to record what you do in MATLAB. Stop the recording and upload the zip file to your favorite web site. Tell us where you uploaded it to. Then we will have a series of screenshots where we can observe your operations.
umer farooqfast
on 17 Sep 2016
i had the same problem but try to relaunch Matlab again and again it will work..
Amani
on 6 Nov 2013
I have the same problem , I cannot save a file to the place where I have a permission to do so what should I do ?
thanks
5 Comments
Naveen Gowdayyanadoddi
on 18 Dec 2013
Edited: Walter Roberson
on 27 Aug 2015
Hi:
Even I am facing the same problem. Here is the piece of code that I wanted to save in a new file.
--------------------------------------------------
function mjd = GpsTimeToMjd(gpsTime)
%Account for the UTC leap second offsets
utcLeapSeconds = 16; % as of July 2012
mjd = (gpsTime.weekCycles * 1024 + gpsTime.week) * 7 + (gpsTime.seconds - utcLeapSeconds) / 86400;
--------------------------------------------------
It was fine until day before yesterday. I don't know what changes causing this problem.
Please help.
Image Analyst
on 18 Dec 2013
Same problem will mean the same answers/responses. Basically you don't have, or no longer have, permission to write there.
Jesse Lopez
on 30 Jun 2016
So this exact problem happened to me but i was able to save my work. Here is what I did:
Opened up WordPad and copy/pasted all my script so it keeps my indentations. Closed MATLAB. Then I reopened MATLAB and IMMEDIATELY changed my current folder to documents WITHOUT trying to save. Pasted my script(from WordPAd) into a new script file and I was able to save.
I think after the first time you you try to save somewhere you don't have permission MATLAB blocks you from saving even if you change your folder. One thing you can also try in MATLAB is typing
clear all
in the command window and pressing enter. That might allow you save. What I did worked though.
1 Comment
Jan
on 3 Aug 2017
Edited: Jan
on 3 Aug 2017
I do not think that a clear all magically influences the file permissions, which are controlled by the operating system. Even the WordPad "trick" does not seem to get the real source of the problem. Changing the current folder to a location you have write permissions to should solve the problem with out magic and tricks.
Nikhil Kedia
on 3 Aug 2017
I faced this issue too. May be you can try Save Copy as option in the script toolbar's Save dropdown. This is likely because of permission issues. May be some Windows Firewall Setting. Try changing settings If the above does not work, save it in a wordpad as .m file.
Or, just use octave.
2 Comments
Image Analyst
on 3 Aug 2017
Edited: Image Analyst
on 3 Aug 2017
Saving a copy won't work. And it's not a firewall issue. And saving from Wordpad vs. from MATLAB, or saving from Octave, also won't work.
Like I said, the whole problem is he was trying to save the file under c:\Program Files. And Windows does not allow that.
Jan
on 3 Aug 2017
I agree with Image Analyst. The problem is clear: You can create or modify files only, if you have write permissions to the folder.
vincent caillet
on 8 Oct 2018
Hey guys,
This error occured for me when I saved the .mat file multiple times a second to OneDrive. OneDrive automatically saves the files to its own cloud, and I guess it was running into some issues. I closed OneDrive to avoid automatic updates and it now works very well.
So my advice is to avoid working on Onedrive, Google Drive or some server if your code is designed to save the .mat files often into a server that updates itself quite often.
1 Comment
Walter Roberson
on 8 Oct 2018
In at least one MATLAB release there was a problem working with OneDrive when automatic download was turned on.
Ben Hawkins
on 14 Mar 2019
Edited: Ben Hawkins
on 14 Mar 2019
I recently encountered the same issue. This is NOT a problem with the save destination (at least for me). It is a bug related to OneDrive. Turning OneDrive off is NOT an acceptable solution.
2 Comments
Walter Roberson
on 15 Mar 2019
The problem was not OneDrive on or off: it was the automatic synchronization of OneDrive. You can leave OneDrive on if you are willing to manually synch.
Ben Hawkins
on 15 Mar 2019
My institution all but requires the use of OneDrive. Manual syncing is a poor solution. Restarting MATLAB worked for me, so its not a big issue, but I still feel this is a bug to be tackled by Mathworks.
Mate Misho
on 19 Apr 2019
I had a similar problem and solved it. Whoever reads this should check his folderpath if any folder name has a space. I changed it to '_' and saving worked just fine.
0 Comments
Alexandre Delaux
on 2 Aug 2019
I had the same problem saving a function in the folder I've been working in for days. (It happened in the middle of a working session, it was not the first thing I did upon start of Matlab).
I did the >>pwd command and Matlab was indeed pointing at the right folder...
I'm on a Ubuntu 16.04 OS, Matlab R2017a
Relaunching Matlab restored the saving capability but this is odd and annoying
0 Comments
Michael Cervoni
on 15 Sep 2021
I just ran into this issue with 2021a. I was saving a file automatically and had included the current date and time in the file name. The datetime string had the char ":" in it which is not a vaild charactor in a windows file name. Removing this corrected the issue.
0 Comments
Ruby Barron
on 16 Sep 2021
Can someone help? We can’t figure out why simulink or any matlab files won’t open. Tried redirecting the path to a simpler location and let matlab have full access, so no restrictions.
1 Comment
Image Analyst
on 16 Sep 2021
Yes, tech support can. We can't because you have supplied virtually no information. Plus, we cannot set up a screen sharing session with you like tech support can.
Dimitrios Konstantinidis
on 19 Apr 2023
Windows Security seems to think that Matlab is ransomware. Go to Windows Security and under "Ransomware protection" click "manage ransomware protection" and disable "controlled folder access". This worked for me, altough clearly not an ideal solution.
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