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How to Deal with Errors When Saving Documents in Word 2016

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Updated:  
2016-03-26 07:23:02
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From The Book:  
Word 2010 For Dummies
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Saving a document in Word 2016 involves working with both Word and the Windows operating system. This process doubles the chances of something going wrong, so it's high time for an error message. One such error message is

The file whatever already exists

You have three choices:

  • Replace Existing File: Nope.

  • Save Changes with a Different Name: Yep.

  • Merge Changes into Existing File: Nope.

Choose the middle option and click OK. Type a different filename in the Save As dialog box.

Another common problem occurs when a message that's displayed reads something like this:

The file name is not valid

That's Word's less-than-cheerful way of telling you that the filename contains a boo-boo character. To be safe, use letters, numbers, and spaces when naming a file.

Be creative in your document, but also be creative when saving the document and christening it with a name. These names must abide by the Windows rules and regulations for all filenames:

  • A filename can be longer than 200 ridiculous-something characters; even so, keep your filenames short but descriptive.

  • A filename can include letters, numbers, and spaces, and can start with a letter or a number.

  • A filename can contain periods, commas, hyphens, and even underlines.

  • A filename cannot contain any of these characters: / : * ? " |.

Word automatically appends a filename extension to all documents you save — like a last name. You may or may not see the filename extension, depending on how you've configured Windows. Either way, don't type the extension. Only concern yourself with giving the document a proper and descriptive filename.

About This Article

This article is from the book: 

About the book author:

Dan Gookin has been writing about technology for 20 years. He has contributed articles to numerous high-tech magazines and written more than 90 books about personal computing technology, many of them accurate.
He combines his love of writing with his interest in technology to create books that are informative and entertaining, but not boring. Having sold more than 14 million titles translated into more than 30 languages, Dan can attest that his method of crafting computer tomes does seem to work.
Perhaps Dan’s most famous title is the original DOS For Dummies, published in 1991. It became the world’s fastest-selling computer book, at one time moving more copies per week than the New York Times number-one best seller (although, because it’s a reference book, it could not be listed on the NYT best seller list). That book spawned the entire line of For Dummies books, which remains a publishing phenomenon to this day.
Dan’s most recent titles include PCs For Dummies, 9th Edition; Buying a Computer For Dummies, 2005 Edition; Troubleshooting Your PC For Dummies; Dan Gookin’s Naked Windows XP; and Dan Gookin’s Naked Office. He publishes a free weekly computer newsletter, “Weekly Wambooli Salad,” and also maintains the vast and helpful Web site www.wambooli.com.