Cannot Save Files to Desktop and Error “File not found” in Windows 10

When you try to save a file on the desktop or the documents folder on your Windows 10 computer, it may show the “File not found” error message. Here is the full error message verbatim:

Save as C:\Users\Ramesh\Desktop\filename.txt
File not found.
Check the file name and try again.

.. with the “Unauthorized changes blocked” error in the Notification area and the Action Center.

unauthorized changes blocked - controlled folder access

For each error, an action center notification along with an event log entry is created.

unauthorized changes blocked - controlled folder access - action center

Here are the related event log entries (Event Id: 1123):


Log Name:      Microsoft-Windows-Windows Defender/Operational
Source:        Microsoft-Windows-Windows Defender
Date:         
Event ID:      1123
Task Category: None
Level:         Warning
Keywords:      
User:          SYSTEM
Computer:      DESKTOP-JKJ4G5Q
Description:
C:\Program Files\Tally\Tally.ERP9\tally.exe has been blocked from modifying %userprofile%\Documents\ by Controlled Folder Access.
     Detection time: 
     User: DESKTOP-JKJ4G5Q\ramesh
     Path: %userprofile%\Documents\
     Process Name: C:\Program Files\Tally\Tally.ERP9\tally.exe
     Signature Version: 1.291.266.0
     Engine Version: 1.1.15800.1
     Product Version: 4.18.1902.2

Log Name:      Microsoft-Windows-Windows Defender/Operational
Source:        Microsoft-Windows-Windows Defender
Date:          
Event ID:      1123
Task Category: None
Level:         Warning
Keywords:      
User:          SYSTEM
Computer:      DESKTOP-JKJ4G5Q
Description:
C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe has been blocked from modifying %desktopdirectory%\ by Controlled Folder Access.
     Detection time: 
     User: DESKTOP-JKJ4G5Q\ramesh
     Path: %desktopdirectory%\
     Process Name: C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe
     Signature Version: 1.291.266.0
     Engine Version: 1.1.15800.1
     Product Version: 4.18.1902.2

The above symptoms are observed in Windows 10 build 1709 and higher. It’s because of “Controlled Folder Access”, an anti-ransomware feature first introduced in Fall Creators Update v1709, is preventing untrusted programs from writing to protected areas like the Desktop or Documents folder.

Microsoft doesn’t tell which programs are “untrusted”. For instance, the above error may occur when saving to .txt files on the Desktop using EditPad Lite or similar program. When I tested with Notepad++ in Windows 10 v1809, the issue didn’t appear. It could be possible that Windows 10 has a built-in list of “trusted” programs, and the list may get updated now and then.



Fix: Unable to Save Files to Desktop and Error “File not found”

Option 1: Turn Off Controlled Folder Access

To turn off Controlled Folder Access, use these steps:

  1. Open Windows Defender Security Center
  2. Click Virus & threat protection
  3. Click Virus & threat protection settings
  4. Scroll down to Controlled folder access

    Enabling Controlled folder access - Windows Defender
    Disabling Windows Defender Controlled folder access
  5. Turn the setting off

Option 2: Allow Specific Programs for Controlled Folder Access (having the option Enabled)

Occasionally, an app that is safe to use will be identified as harmful by the Controlled Folder Access feature. This happens because Microsoft wants to keep you safe and will sometimes err on the side of caution; however, this might interfere with how you normally use your PC. You can add an app to the list of safe or allowed apps to prevent them from being blocked.

If you don’t want to turn off Controlled Folder Access, you can instead whitelist specific programs so that Windows 10 doesn’t block those apps from writing to the desktop, documents or other protected folders.

Controlled folder access -- Allowing an app
Controlled folder access — Allowing an app

To whitelist (allow) programs for Controlled Folder access, refer to the article How to Configure and Use Controlled Folder Access in Windows 10 for a detailed information. Note that you can use PowerShell to toggle on/off the setting. Be sure to whitelist PowerShell.exe first.

That’s it! Hope the article helps.


One small request: If you liked this post, please share this?

One "tiny" share from you would seriously help a lot with the growth of this blog. Some great suggestions:
  • Pin it!
  • Share it to your favorite blog + Facebook, Reddit
  • Tweet it!
So thank you so much for your support. It won't take more than 10 seconds of your time. The share buttons are right below. :)

Ramesh Srinivasan is passionate about Microsoft technologies and he has been a consecutive ten-time recipient of the Microsoft Most Valuable Professional award in the Windows Shell/Desktop Experience category, from 2003 to 2012. He loves to troubleshoot and write about Windows. Ramesh founded Winhelponline.com in 2005.

14 thoughts on “Cannot Save Files to Desktop and Error “File not found” in Windows 10”

  1. I wonder why Windows 10 changes this ‘Protected Folders’ option… maybe an update. Was tearing my hair out, about to lose hours of work, found this, fixed it. Many thanks!

    Reply
  2. I had controlled folder access turned off and still had the error.

    I turned off real-time protection and that allowed me to save the file. It says it will be turned back on by the system after a short time. I’ll turn it back on manually.

    Reply
    • @Unionworkeruk: if you’re still facing this issue, pls reply back. We can debug this to know what’s happening under the hood, and fix it.

  3. Thank you very much. I almost rolled back my new updates to a previous but have been saved by this support.
    Good job done.

    Reply
  4. Unfortunately, this occurred when I used a tax program and at the end, it would not allow me to save, print, or submit to Revenue Canada. I turned everything off, included a path for exemption and it still didn’t work.

    Reply
  5. this wont work if ur on a restricted company computer, then those admins have to make the changes through azure or whatever they use

    Reply

Leave a Reply