I keep getting this error: "The item couldn’t be saved because the file name is invalid." (Mac)

[bythecshore]

All of a sudden I'm running into a real weird problem. When I save a spreadsheet to one folder, it works fine, but when I save it to another folder (where I really want to save it to, I get this error, "The item couldn’t be saved because the file name is invalid."
Does anyone know why this is happening? I've tried restarting my MacBook and that didn't help.

 

[ian_g_287]

Same here - I can only save as the default "book 1" - anything else non valid - and can't duplicate either....

Any help would be great !

 

[bythecshore]

I sort of figured this out by trial and error.

The folder I was trying to save into was in a directory that for some reason wouldn't allow it. When I moved the folder out of the directory tree it was in, I could once again save files to it with any typical file name.

 

[christopheb]

Since today, I'm getting the exact same issue. When I try saving a file in a specific folder, it's not able to save. When moving that file to a folder higher up the hierarchy, I can save it with that exact same name.

A few additional findings (assuming folder X and all its subfolders return issues):
1) If in folder X I could not save the file, and instead I save it in another folder (say folder Y), the file does not open after I copy paste it into the location where I originally intended the file to be in (folder X)
2) I noticed that, in folder X, I'm only able to save a file when the filelenght is equal to or smaller than 21 characters. I can rename it in my finder to something of more than 21 characters, but then the Excel file doesn't open. When I change it back to 21 characters or less, the file opens again...
3) The issue only seems to be occuring with Excel files. When I save a word file with a filename longer than 21 characters, there's no issue at all...


Very odd (and annoying !!!). Anyone experiencing the same? Any solutions/ideas?

 

[christopheb]

Ok, I think I found it, and it's probably something something that would need to be fixed in Excel. If the full path to the excel file, including the filename (excl the file extension), exceeds 256 chars, the Excel cannot be opened... That's also the reason why moving the file up one directory fixed the issue, sometimes...