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.
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!