How to Solve ‘read only’ Error When You Save a File in PowerPoint

Although Microsoft’s PowerPoint is the best and most commonly used application for creating presentations, it is not perfect at all times. Like other applications or software, PowerPoint also exhibits certain issues at times. In this article, let us discuss an error that reads ‘read-only’ when you save a PPT file.

PowerPoint Cannot Save Due to Read-only Error

What are the possible causes of this error? Is there a way to resolve this problem? Please read this article to find out.

Causes and solutions to resolve ‘read-only’ error in PowerPoint

Now let us see the possible causes and corresponding solutions to resolve the ‘read-only’ error in PowerPoint.

Case 1: The file is open by another program

As you know, it is possible to preview PPT files in the Preview pane. But what is important to note is that when the preview pane is open and a PPT file is selected to preview, a hidden version of PowerPoint is launched in the background. You only see the preview but PowerPoint is actually open behind the scenes.

So, if you are previewing a PPT and at the same time you actually open PowerPoint, you may get an error that reads ‘The PowerPoint file is in use’ or you may get a ‘read-only’ error. If you think this may be the problem, close the preview pane, restart your computer and then re-open PowerPoint. You may find that the error is resolved.

Case 2: If PPT file is password-protected

This one’s pretty obvious, when you try to open a password protected PPT file, you will be asked to enter a password to edit the file. (This may be the setting that the owner has set). If this is the case, enter the password to edit its contents and save the file.

Case 3: If the PPT is marked Final

If you are receiving a read-only error only with certain PPT files and not all of them, a file being marked as ‘Final’ may be the reason. So, if a PPT has been marked as ‘Final’, no other changes can be made and hence cannot be saved.

In order to resolve this problem, have the PPT (the one marked as ‘Final’) open and follow the steps below.

  • Click on File > Info
  • Click Protect Presentation and then click ‘Mark as Final’ to undo the ‘Final’ mark

Once this change has been done, open the PPT and check if you are able to edit and save. If not, proceed to the next step.

Case 4: PPT is originally set to read-only

Again, this one’s pretty obvious. It can happen if the owner of the file has set it to read-only. It could also happen if someone else is editing the file, in cases when the file is stored on a network drive instead of on a local drive. Third, if PowerPoint has crashed but the file is still open in the background, you may see a read-only message.

In order to resolve this problem, save the file on a local hard drive with a new name. In case the error is due to PowerPoint crashing, restart Windows and open PPT file.

Last but not the least; also check if you have an activated version of Microsoft Office. If you don’t, purchase the full version to enable full functionality of Office.

Repair PPT files

There may also be cases when you see ‘read-only’ error or you cannot save a PPT file because it is corrupted. Corruption can be due to PowerPoint crash, editing a PPT file saved on an external storage or other reasons. In order to repair corrupt PPT’s, you can make use of Remo Repair PPT. It is a wonderful tool that can repair PPT and PPTX no matter what the reason for corruption is. Once the repair is complete, all your text, formatting, pictures, hyperlinks, embedded objects etc. are recovered in the same original form. Download a trial and repair your PPT file for free!

How to Turn your PowerPoint Slides into Videos

PowerPoint presentations are effective ways of communicating your thoughts to the audience. Slides can contain rich quantities of information that can help the audience understand the subject matter better.

The flipside to it is if the slideshow has a ton of slides, going through it can be a herculean task. Most people do not feel like going beyond a certain slide. To make PowerPoint slideshows interesting, it is a great idea to convert these slides into videos that can keep the audience engrossed throughout.

You can use Camtasia tool to create and edit videos.

Follow these steps to make a great PowerPoint video.

  1. Import your PowerPoint Slides

Make sure PowerPoint is closed. Open Camtasia. You can click Import Media button to select your PowerPoint file or drag and drop the PowerPoint file to Camtasia interface.

  1. Animate PowerPoint file with behaviors

A behavior is basically an animation that adds movement to your slides, creating interest in the audience.

To add a behavior, click and drag the behavior onto to the slide you want to animate. You can always adjust the behavior through Properties tab.

  1. Annotations

Annotations are used to make the audience focus on a particular element or something important in your presentation.

You can click the annotation tab on the left side of the screen and drag it into the designated slide. You can then play around with it until you find an appropriate place to place it.

  1. Add quizzes

Quizzes can increase the interest of the audience in your presentation. They feel invested in it as the curiosity to know the right answer always exist.

To add a quiz, you can click Interactivity tab on the left side panel and click Add Quiz to Timeline.

  1. Check out the video!

Play the PowerPoint slideshow from the beginning to note the changes. It is far more engaging than a normal slideshow.

Repair corrupt PowerPoint files with Remo Repair PowerPoint software

If you were unable to access your PowerPoint file, it could be due to corruption. Remo Repair PowerPoint is an excellent tool to resolve all the errors and view contents of your PowerPoint document.

The PPT repair tool can recover PowerPoint slides with all attributes such as text, images, graphs, hyperlinks, videos, audios, animation and so on still intact.

Remo Repair PowerPoint creates a virtual structure of the file by extracting all the important elements of your PPT or PPTX file. After carrying out the repair process, you can view the contents of your PPT file through Preview feature.

The repair software is supported on all versions of Windows and Mac Operating systems.

If PowerPoint found a problem with content, you can easily overcome it with Remo Repair PowerPoint software.

How to Troubleshoot PowerPoint not Responding, Freezing & Hanging Problems

PowerPoint is the most commonly used tool for presentations in business and education environments. It uses slides to organize and present data in a clear and compelling fashion. As with any application or software, PowerPoint may hang or freeze at times. This may cause your PPT files to get corrupt or damaged. This article explains reasons and potential solutions for PowerPoint to behave in an unusual way.

  1. Install latest Office updates – Updates provide security and feature enhancements to applications and PowerPoint is no exception. For proper functioning of any application, regular updates are crucial. So if you find any irregular behavior in PowerPoint, install latest Office updates.
  2. Antivirus software – Your antivirus software usually integrates with all applications in your system. Similarly, it integrates with PowerPoint as well. This can at times trouble your experience with PowerPoint. To resolve this issue, try disabling any antivirus software add-ins that is installed with PowerPoint application.
  3. An issue with add-ins – Despite additional features and enhancements that add-ins provide, they may at times interfere with PowerPoint. To solve issues with add-ins,
  • Click on Start and type in PowerPoint/safe
  • This will open PowerPoint in safe mode without add-ins
  • Now, if you find that PowerPoint works fine, add-ins were the items causing trouble. To disable them,
  • Go to File menu > Choose Options > Add-ins
  • Then select COM Add-ins
  • Disable/enable each of the addins and check for one causing trouble

4. Office Repair tool – If none of these methods work, you can use the built-in Office Repair tool. Open Control Panel > Choose Programs & Features > Uninstall or change a program. In the list, right-click on Microsoft Office and then click Repair. This should solve your issue.

After troubleshooting using these steps, if you still face issues with MS PowerPoint 2016 not opening PPTX file, you will need a repair tool like Remo PowerPoint Repair.

About Remo PowerPoint Repair

Remo PowerPoint Repair tool is designed to fix your PPT, PPTX and PPS files. The software uses a read-only mechanism, meaning it reads your original file, fixes issues and creates healthy files. Thus, your original file is not disturbed. All elements such as clipart, hyperlinks, headers, and footers are extracted and presented in your repaired file. The software supports all versions of Windows including Windows 10.

An advanced feature is the Preview feature, which allows you to preview recovered files prior to saving them.

Solve Error ‘PowerPoint cannot Read File’ / ‘Presentation Files cannot be Opened’

Isn’t it annoying when an important PowerPoint file shows error message every time you try to access it? “PowerPoint can’t read filename / path.ppt”, “Presentation file cannot be opened” error message leaves you frustrated. The situation is even scarier when you have an important presentation to deliver. The error message has to be fixed in order to get access to the file.

Well, stop worrying; there are different ways by which you can solve the error message. PowerPoint provides an inbuilt feature called ‘Open and Repair’ which helps to easily resolve minor issues with PowerPoint file. If the error message doesn’t get fixed even after using this feature, then you need to resort to other methods to fix the problem.

Mostly this problem occurs when Microsoft Office has blocked the file for any security reason. You need to unblock the file so that you can open it or read it. Just follow the steps given below:

  • Open File Explorer and open the PowerPoint file having the problem
  • Right click on that file, and select Properties
  • In the Properties dialog box, find the Unblock button present at the bottom right. If it is present then click Unblock, and click Apply, followed by OK.
  • Now try to open the PowerPoint file again. Right-click on the file in Explorer, and hit Open.

Hope this method helped to fix error message and get access to PPT file content. But if the problem is still not resolved, then the file could be corrupted. You need to fix the file using a PPT Repair software. Don’t worry; with the help of this PowerPoint Repair software, you can fix Can’t read PPT file error, or ‘Presentation file cannot be opened’ error in just a few clicks. This tool will repair corrupted PPT, PPS, or PPTX files and make it accessible again. Even other PowerPoint error messages can be fixed easily.

How to Edit a Presentation that is Marked as Final ?

Microsoft PowerPoint has Mark as Final feature which helps to set presentation in read-only mode so that you can avoid accidental changes.  It is better to make a PowerPoint presentation read-only as it allows you to carry your PPT in any device without modifying it. If you make your presentation read-only, then you can’t do any typing, editing and proofing task on your presentation.

Here are the steps for making your presentation read-only (mark as final)

  1. Open PowerPoint and then select File tab
  2. Next, select Info followed by Protect Presentation
  3. Select Mark as Final from the drop-down menu
  4. When a dialog box appears, click on Ok button

It will convert your presentation to read-only mode. But, what if you want to edit the presentation after converting it to read-only mode? No worries, you can edit your presentation which is marked as final. There are two methods which you can opt to remove write protection.

Method #1:

  • Again, go back to File tab and select Info button
  • Next, click on Protect Presentation
  • Now, from the drop-down menu, again click on Mark as Final to undo write protection
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    Method #2

    Whenever you open write protected presentation, it shows you Edit Anyway button on the top of the PowerPoint window. Here, you just need to click on Edit Anyway button to make it editable.

    Final Verdict:

    If you don’t want any accidental changes to your presentation, then use Mark as Final feature to enable read-only mode. But, anyone can easily disable Mark as Final feature; hence it is not considered as a safety measure.