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benp84612235
Participant
February 14, 2019
Question

Could not save “filename” because the file is already in use or was left open by another application.

  • February 14, 2019
  • 7 replies
  • 10847 views

Hi All

I am on CS6 and my photoshop has worked fine for years but recently I have had this error where I can't save anything unless I save for web which does work strangely enough but no good for saving psd files.

This is the error:

Could not save “filename” because the file is already in use or was left open by another application.

I am on a high spec Mac on OS Mojave, not on any network or domain, I have restarted the machine countless times and even deleted and reinstalled CS6 to get a fresh start but this has not worked, I really need to get this fixed as I can't use Photoshop with this error. The files are definitely not already in use by other programs, or if they are it isn't obvious. I have looked around for solutions and none seem to have worked for me.

This topic has been closed for replies.

7 replies

G
Gary5ECC
Participant
January 14, 2021

I think I know the answer. 

 

When you are in the finder and you have the document selected, have you got it set to show a little preview?

 

If so, click to another doc or just elsewhere to stop that doc showing the preview of the doc you are trying to save. 

 

The Mac thinks that preview is an open doc and won't allow it to save until the preview is closed 

    A
    Arch81
    Participant
    September 13, 2019

    Came across same issue recently with PS-CS6 shortly after upgrading Mac to OSX from Sierra to Mohave ; appears the problem has to do with an incompatibility between Adobe app & Apple's new "APFS" file system format that came into being with OSX High Sierra.    After numerous online searches, the only current ( as of Sept-2019 ) "workaround" to this problem that works is to save files to a non-APFS formatted drive  ( i.e. a temporary USB flash drive, or more permanent older disk drive Mac in OS Extended format )-  I have tried this myself and found that it in fact resolves the issue.   If you want a more detailed explanation of this, check out this link from an I.T. Community Board called "Spiceworks" I came across while researching problem online (Spiceworks IT / Workaround for Photoshop CS 5-6).  As far as I know Adobe has not done anything to correct this problem to date.     HOPE THIS HELPS !

      Dani Szwarc
      Dani Szwarc
      Inspiring
      January 23, 2020

      Hello @Arch81. I was able to save to a different drive but never thought the new file system was the problem and it makes perfect sense. Thank you very much for clarifying this!

      denisep84213089
      denisep84213089
      Participant
      August 4, 2019

      I have a new file that I'm trying to save for the first time and I'm also running into this issue.

      L
      LarryK_95
      Inspiring
      March 13, 2019

      I've been having this same issue with Photoshop 2018 ever since updating to Mojave. Files are saved on a server share and it can go several days without issue, then get 2-4 of these in a row and then be fine for a while. I usually get 5-6 of these a week over the period of saving hundreds of files.

      Just like the previous issue of "Could not save because write access was not granted" that plagued older versions of Mac OS + PS once a file has this issue it can't be deleted or saved over for a period of time, I have to move the file to another folder and save my file to the desktop, and then copy the file back to the server. Also just like that issue this only affects Photoshop and no other application.

      R
      rockclimber
      Participant
      July 17, 2019

      On Mojave this issue seems to revolve around the thumbnail display in the Finder. If I have an image selected in the Finder, the image is displayed as a preview in the Finder. I then open that image by double-clicking the file or dragging the file to the Photoshop icon in the dock,  leaving the image selected and the preview displayed in the Finder. Then, when I try to save the image, I get this error! Deselecting the file in the Finder, thus not displaying the preview, allows me to save the image!

      Works for me every time...

        jane-e
        Community Expert
        jane-eCommunity Expert
        Community Expert
        February 15, 2019

        benp84612235  wrote

        This is the error:

        Could not save “filename” because the file is already in use or was left open by another application.

        I am on a high spec Mac on OS Mojave

        Hi Ben,

        Have you tried repairing permissions in Disk Utilities?

        As you know, Mac OSX allows you to move, rename, and delete files while they are open, so something else is going on. If repairing permissions doesn’t work, I would suspect the issue is running old software on Mojave.

        Jane

          Trevor.Dennis
          Community Expert
          Trevor.DennisCommunity Expert
          Community Expert
          February 15, 2019

          It sounds like an OS issue rather than strictly Photoshop.  I am not a Mac user, so I don't know if it is covered in the Known Issues help page?

          Known issues - Running Photoshop CC on macOS 10.14 Mojave

          In the link that c.p gave you, there is a section on 'user permissions'.  Have a look at that.  Check the file properties.  That sort of thing.

          c.pfaffenbichler
          Community Expert
          c.pfaffenbichlerCommunity Expert
          Community Expert
          February 15, 2019

          Have you also restored the Preferences after making sure all customized presets like Actions, Patterns, Brushes etc. have been saved?

          https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/kb/basic-trouble-shooting-steps.html

          Could any other program (even Bridge, the OS itself or some OS plugin) be busy with the file (indexing it or whatever)?

          B
          benp84612235Author
          Participant
          February 15, 2019

          Thanks for the advice people but nothing has worked yet, is there a way of checking if something else is using a file?

          jane-e
          Community Expert
          jane-eCommunity Expert
          Community Expert
          February 15, 2019

          Hi Ben,

          Cmd+Opt+Escape opens Force Quit and lets you see which applications are running.

          Or use Spotlight to open "Activity Monitor" to see all processes.

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