When excel saves the file, it saves it as a temporary file with a funny name (8
characters--no extension) in the same folder.

If the save is successful, xl will delete the original (or rename it to its
backup name (like "backup of book1.xlk)) and if that's successful, xl will
rename the funny named file to the original's name.

Common things that get blamed for interruptions to this process are antivirus
software poking its head in or network errors--either permissions or physical
problems.

PollokD wrote:

Every time I open a document then work on it and go to save the changes,
Excel won't save. I get an error message that it has been saved as a file
with a numerical name, and I should close the existing document then open the
numerically named document and save with a different name. This works but is
a big pain. why is this happening and is there a fix or something else I
should do to save it? Thank you!

--

Dave Peterson