Cannot save a Matlab file

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

[Jan]

And did the former poster get a helpful answer?

[Shri Map]

I am facing the same issue. I am not able to save any program. I have 2013a insatlled on my machine with Win7 OS. Any help will be highly appreciated!

[Shalela]

I am using Matlab R2013b and previously faced the same problem. The only thing I did to overcome this problem is go to the "current folder" window (mine is on the left of the command window), then double click on the folder that I want to save the file into. This will make the folder become the "MATLAB path". I hope it works for you too.

[Aniruddha Nandi]

I have installed MATLAB R2016a on my system running on Windows 10. Still, I cannot save the variables in workspace window using the 'Save' command in the command prompt. Any help would be very useful.

[Image Analyst]

Again, you're trying to save it under the Program Files folder. Windows won't allow that. Change your current folder to C:\Users\aniruddha\MATLAB and it should work fine.

[Jan]

@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]

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

Answer 1

[Shashank Prasanna]

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.

[MiauMiau]

no, I am in the matlab path just as always..:/

[Shashank Prasanna]

what is the matlab path? can you tell me the output of:

>>pwd

Also what OS are you using? Do you know if you have the admin privileges?

[Szabolcs Vezendi]

I use mac os and i can not solve the problem.

[Walter Roberson]

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.

[Qahraman]

Thanks a lot

Answer 2

[Shawn]

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

[Jan]

No, raising the permissions of the process is the wrong approach from the view point of security. You might get problems like an accidental modification of Matlab's toolbox functions. Simply write files to folders, you have write permissions to.

[kajal kumari]

My MATLAB is in C drive there I can't save but even though I am trying to save my program in D drive ..I am to able to save

[Hunho Ha]

It works for me! before I opened my Matlab without a permission, it didn't make any file even I saved, but once I opened Matlab with administration permission, it worked! Thanks!

[Caleb Okafor]

How do you open with administrator permission?

[Walter Roberson]

In MS Windows, right click on the MATLAB icon, and select Run As Administrator

[Image Analyst]

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.

Answer 3

[Image Analyst]

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?

[MiauMiau]

Of course I have to do that, thats clear. But so I click on "save" or "save as" and type in a name for the .m file and the enter button. After doing so - nothing changes. The file is still labeled "untitled"...

[Image Analyst]

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]

i had the same problem but try to relaunch Matlab again and again it will work..

Answer 4

[Amani]

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

[Image Analyst]

What is the folder name? What securities do you see when you look at the properties of the folder? Can you edit the properties to give "Full Control"?

[Amani]

I tried to save it in several places that I used to save in but it does not work now yes, Full Control is one of the selected option what else do I need to check ?

thanks

[Image Analyst]

We can't continue unless you give us the code that tries to do the saving, and your full error message (everything in red text). Also, it's probably best if you start your own discussion.

[Naveen Gowdayyanadoddi]

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]

Same problem will mean the same answers/responses. Basically you don't have, or no longer have, permission to write there.

Answer 5

[Ryan Shrott]

This is a very annoying bug...I cannot save my work

Answer 6

[Jesse Lopez]

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.

[Jan]

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.

Answer 7

[Nikhil Kedia]

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.

[Image Analyst]

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]

I agree with Image Analyst. The problem is clear: You can create or modify files only, if you have write permissions to the folder.

Answer 8

[vincent caillet]

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.

[Walter Roberson]

In at least one MATLAB release there was a problem working with OneDrive when automatic download was turned on.

Answer 9

[Ben Hawkins]

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.

[Walter Roberson]

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]

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.

Answer 10

[Mate Misho]

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.

Answer 11

[Alexandre Delaux]

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

Answer 12

[Michael Cervoni]

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.

Answer 13

[Ruby Barron]

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.

[Image Analyst]

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.

https://matlab.fandom.com/wiki/FAQ#After_installation.2C_MATLAB_crashes_or_gives_an_error_message_when_I_try_to_run_MATLAB.

Answer 14

[Dimitrios Konstantinidis]

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.

[Andreas Schnell]

Thank's a lot. That's also my issue.