9 Fixes for ‘Word Cannot Complete the Save’ Error in Windows 11
After working on a document in Microsoft Word, it’s natural for you to save the progress. But it’s unusual to get a pop-up window stating ‘Word Cannot Complete the Save’ when you want to save the document. So you’d want to save your progress in the document on your computer or copy the text to another file. Before doing the latter, you can fix this problem. We have compiled solutions to fix ‘Word Cannot Complete the Save’ error in Microsoft Word on Windows 11.
Table of Contents
Things to Try First
Before you start panicking, the first course of action is to perform the basic checks to save the document on your Windows 11 PC. Here are some common checks and reasons why you get the ‘Word Cannot Complete the Save’ error in Word:
1. Change File Name and Save Location
You may not have the necessary permission to save the Word document in a particular folder, partition or drive on your Windows 11 PC. So, you can save the Word file in a different folder location with a new name. Avoid using symbols or special characters in the file name.
To change the name of the saved file, right-click and selectRename. After that, move the file elsewhere – preferably a different drive.
2. Grant Full Permissions to Word File
You need editing rights to make any changes to the Word file and save it. You need to have editing rights if you did not create the Word document. However, if the Word file was created by someone else, then send them a message to check permissions.
You can also check the current permission status from the ribbon menu. When you click the button next to Share button at the top-right corner, the drop-down will offer you three options – Editing, Reviewing, or Viewing.
Select theEditingoption. If it is greyed out, you need the necessary permissions to make changes and need to contact the admin.
3. Disable Document Protection
If the document was shared with you, the sender may have applieddocument protectionon the Word file. When that is enabled, it will restrict anyone from making changes to the document. If you have editing permissions, you can disable document protection. Here’s how.
1.Click on theReview tab. Click onProtectand you will see two options —Block AuthorsandRestrict Editing.
2.Under Block Authors, unselectRelease All of My Blocked Areas.
3.Under Restrict Editing, uncheckLimit formatting to a selection of styleandAllow only this type of editing in the documentoptions.
Tip:After drafting invoices, agreements, contracts, and similar documents, Microsoft even lets youadd your signature to the Word document.
4. Open Word in Safe Mode
Unlike booting your Windows 11 PC in safe mode, you may start the Microsoft Word app in safe mode without restarting your computer. Here’s how you can do that.
1.PressWindows key+Rto open the Run prompt.
2.Type the following command:
3.Word will open withSafe Modeappearing in the title.
4.Click on the File menu icon and locate the Word file you want to open. It will automatically open in Safe Mode too. Check if you can save the file or still see ‘Word Cannot Complete the Save’ pop-up error.
5. Check the Word Add-Ins
If you still can’t save the file, one of the add-ins could be at fault. So if you’re using Add-ins in Word to help you, you might want to check if one of them is misbehaving.
In a Word document, click onFile > Options > Add-ins. Click onGonext toManage Com Add-ins.
In the pop-up that follows, uncheck all the add-ins and try again. If you may save the Word file, re-enable add-ins one at a time to eliminate the one causing the error.
6. Modify Word Compatibility Settings
One of the issues with Microsoft Office is the number of versions that are concurrently available. There is Office 2013, 2016, 2019, 365, and so on. Compatibility mode is useful when trying to edit and save a file created in one version while using another. If that’s the case, the Word file won’t be compatible with the current version to throw the ‘Word Cannot Complete the Save’ error. Here’s how you may change the file’s compatibility setting:
1.Click onFilemenu.
2.Click onOptionsin the bottom-left corner.
3.SelectSavetab from the left sidebar. From the drop-down next toSave files in this format, selectWord Document (*.docx). You will notice there are some other versions of Word also listed and if one applies to you, try selecting that.
7. Repair Word File and Microsoft Office
Repairing a Word file or even an app doesn’t erase the file or the associated data. So, you can repair the file or the Microsoft Office installation on your Windows PC without worrying about data loss. Over time, documents and even app files may get corrupted, and there are a few reasons behind it, like cache, code, bug, etc. So, it is easy to repair files and apps in Windows.
Repair Word File
1.Open any Word file.
2.Click onFilein the top-left corner of the screen.
3.Select theOpentab from the left sidebar and click onBrowsebutton.
4.Select the file you need to repair and selectOpen and Repairfrom the menu.
Repair Microsoft Office App
1.PressWindows key+Ito open Settings.
2.Click onAppsin the left sidebar and thenInstalled appson the right side.
3.Use thesearch barto find the Office app. Then click on thethree-dots menuicon next to it and selectAdvanced options.
4.Click on theRepairbutton and follow the on-screen instructions.
8. Reset Word
If Word won’t let you save the file despite following the above solutions, you may want to reset the Word app. However, that will delete all app data. So, take a backup of all the Word files to an external drive or upload them to cloud storage before you proceed. Otherwise, you will lose all data.
Follow Steps 1 to 4 in the above section to repair the Office app. In the same window, you will also have theResetoption.
9. Update Word App and Windows OS
Though updates are automatic on Windows 11, they might not happen for some reason. If that’s the case, you’ll need to update the Word app and Windows OS. Updates carry fixes to common bugs that might resolve several bugs and bring improvements. Here’s how to update the Word app and Windows Update.
Update Word App
1.Open the Microsoft Store app.
2.Click on theLibraryicon in the left sidebar.
3.Click onGet updates.
4.Check if there is an update showing for Word app and if yes, download and install it.
Update Windows OS
Similarly, updating Windows is easy and can be done from the Settings app.
2.SelectWindows Updatefrom the sidebar and then check for an update. After installing an update, you’ll need to restart your PC to apply it.
Save the Document Peacefully
Microsoft Word is a good app but the problem is that there many versions of the app are floating around. Most Microsoft apps have had multiple versions over the years. Skype is another example. Using the web version simplifies this problem.
Did you know thatword allows you to create fillable formstoo? Some organizations and companies need employees to use Word exclusively for this purpose.
Gaurav Bidasaria
Gaurav is an editor here at TechWiser but also contributes as a writer. He has more than 10 years of experience as a writer and has written how-to guides, comparisons, listicles, and in-depth explainers on Windows, Android, web, and cloud apps, and the Apple ecosystem.
He loves tinkering with new gadgets and learning about new happenings in the tech world.
He has previously worked on Guiding Tech, Make Tech Easier, and other prominent tech blogs and has over 1000+ articles that have been read over 50 million times.
