AE Beta 17.5.1 Won't Save

Working on a straightforward graphics project in AE Beta, trying to save before a render and the program just won't save. Like the menu options are all available and it when I click on 'save' or 'save as' there's a response, but it just won't create a save file. It's a new project and I suspect that some permissions may have been messed up and my AE beta can't write a new save file, but I am unsure how to fix that. I also have imported a separate .ae file into this project, that may be a compounding factor but not sure.