Excel file was not saved properly - where do I find a .MACTF file??

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Level 1

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Excel file was not saved properly - where do I find a .MACTF file??

Need help on locating a file:

The last 2+ hours I worked on an xls file which, out of the blue, I couldn't save.

First I got this message:

"Sorry, we couldn't find /var/folders/3z/np4wkjl54zx6sdj6jcq8xvxc0000gn/T/com.microsoft.Excel/56514C00.MACTF. Is it possible that it was moved, renamed or deleted?"

The file I worked in is a normal xls file, I worked on it and saved it before without any issues whatsoever. I did NOT move, delete or rename the file.

Upon clicking OK I received the following message:

"Your changes could not be saved to '[file name]', but were saved to a temporary document named 56514C00.MACTF'. Close the existing document, then open the temporary document and save it under a new name.

Where can I find this temporary document????

I already tried the normal search in Finder as well as "open $TMPDIR" but the temporary file folder is empty.

Also googled left right and center without any solution.

Issue happened for the first time.

Using MacBook Air 2020, Ventura 13.0.1 (22A400), and Office365

Thank you in advance!

MacBook Air 13″

Posted on Aug 20, 2023 5:50 PM

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Answer 1

HWTech

Level 9

67,226 points

Aug 24, 2023 6:29 PM in response to SOS888

Where was the original file located?

Are you using any file syncing services such as iCloud, One Drive, Drop Box, Google Drive, etc.? Just wondering if that would have affected the ability to save the file. If so, then perhaps the file is saved somewhere controlled by the file syncing service.

Did you try to save the file to a different location?

Try using Find Any File to see if you can locate the file (I would also recommend just searching for the file extension if the initial search is unsuccessful just in case there may be other .MACTF files).

http://apps.tempel.org/FindAnyFile/index.php

I also took a little time to search for this issue. It appears the .MACTF is not something Microsoft does. Speculation is it is something related to macOS, but not sure what. A lot of search results seemed to indicate the error occurred with some sort of Sharing enabled though. I have never seen or heard of a .MACTF type file before.

FYI, you are way behind on macOS Ventura updates. Ventura is now up to 13.5.1.

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Excel file was not saved properly - where do I find a .MACTF file??

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