{"id":8302,"date":"2019-03-26T06:04:27","date_gmt":"2019-03-26T00:34:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/198.58.113.91\/blog\/?p=8302"},"modified":"2023-08-02T20:32:32","modified_gmt":"2023-08-02T15:02:32","slug":"error-file-not-found-save-files-desktop-windows-10-controlled-folder-access","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/error-file-not-found-save-files-desktop-windows-10-controlled-folder-access\/","title":{"rendered":"Cannot Save Files to Desktop and Error “File not found” in Windows 10"},"content":{"rendered":"

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:<\/p>\n

\nSave as C:\\Users\\Ramesh\\Desktop\\filename.txt
\nFile not found.
\nCheck the file name and try again.\n<\/div>\n

.. with the “Unauthorized changes blocked” error in the Notification area and the Action Center.<\/p>\n

\"unauthorized<\/p>\n

For each error, an action center notification along with an event log entry is created.<\/p>\n

\"unauthorized
\n<\/p>\n

Here are the related event log entries (Event Id: 1123<\/code>):<\/p>\n

\r\nLog Name:      Microsoft-Windows-Windows Defender\/Operational\r\nSource:        Microsoft-Windows-Windows Defender\r\nDate:         \r\nEvent ID:      1123\r\nTask Category: None\r\nLevel:         Warning\r\nKeywords:      \r\nUser:          SYSTEM\r\nComputer:      DESKTOP-JKJ4G5Q\r\nDescription:\r\nC:\\Program Files\\Tally\\Tally.ERP9\\tally.exe has been blocked from modifying %userprofile%\\Documents\\ by Controlled Folder Access.\r\n     Detection time: \r\n     User: DESKTOP-JKJ4G5Q\\ramesh\r\n     Path: %userprofile%\\Documents\\\r\n     Process Name: C:\\Program Files\\Tally\\Tally.ERP9\\tally.exe\r\n     Signature Version: 1.291.266.0\r\n     Engine Version: 1.1.15800.1\r\n     Product Version: 4.18.1902.2\r\n<\/code><\/pre>\n
\r\nLog Name:      Microsoft-Windows-Windows Defender\/Operational\r\nSource:        Microsoft-Windows-Windows Defender\r\nDate:          \r\nEvent ID:      1123\r\nTask Category: None\r\nLevel:         Warning\r\nKeywords:      \r\nUser:          SYSTEM\r\nComputer:      DESKTOP-JKJ4G5Q\r\nDescription:\r\nC:\\Windows\\System32\\WindowsPowerShell\\v1.0\\powershell.exe has been blocked from modifying %desktopdirectory%\\ by Controlled Folder Access.\r\n     Detection time: \r\n     User: DESKTOP-JKJ4G5Q\\ramesh\r\n     Path: %desktopdirectory%\\\r\n     Process Name: C:\\Windows\\System32\\WindowsPowerShell\\v1.0\\powershell.exe\r\n     Signature Version: 1.291.266.0\r\n     Engine Version: 1.1.15800.1\r\n     Product Version: 4.18.1902.2\r\n<\/code><\/pre>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/em><\/p>\n
Fix: Unable to Save Files to Desktop and Error “File not found”<\/h2>\n
Option 1: Turn Off Controlled Folder Access<\/h3>\n
To turn off Controlled Folder Access, use these steps:<\/p>\n
    \n
  1. Open Windows Defender Security Center <\/li>\n
  2. Click Virus & threat protection <\/li>\n
  3. Click Virus & threat protection settings <\/li>\n
  4. Scroll down to Controlled folder access\n
    \"Enabling
    Disabling Windows Defender Controlled folder access<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/li>\n
  5. Turn the setting off <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
    Option 2: Allow Specific Programs for Controlled Folder Access (having the option Enabled)<\/h3>\n
    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.<\/p>\n
    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.<\/p>\n
    \"Controlled
    Controlled folder access — Allowing an app<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
    To whitelist (allow) programs for Controlled Folder access, refer to the article How to Configure and Use Controlled Folder Access in Windows 10<\/a> for a detailed information. Note that you can use PowerShell to toggle on\/off the setting. Be sure to whitelist PowerShell.exe<\/code> first.<\/p>\n
    That’s it! Hope the article helps.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
    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 … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[8],"tags":[116,191,661],"class_list":["post-8302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-windows-10","tag-controlled-folder-access","tag-error-messages","tag-windows-defender"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":80535,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/explorer-exe-error-open-file-location\/","url_meta":{"origin":8302,"position":0},"title":"Explorer.exe error when selecting Open File Location","author":"Ramesh","date":"March 21, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"When you right-click on a shortcut on the desktop or Start menu and choose Open file location, the following error may occur: Explorer.EXE This file does not have an app associated with it for performing this action. 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An unexpected error is keeping you from deleting the folder. 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