Save, Save As, and where things go

Tell Save from Save As, and stop writing over a letter you meant to keep.

You will be able to tell Save from Save As, and stop writing over a letter you meant to keep.

Key points

• Save updates the file you already have; Save As creates a new one
• Working from an old document? Save As first, then edit, or you will write over the original
• Tell which of the two you want before you press either

What to remember

• Save As is the one moment a computer asks you where something should go. It is the one moment worth reading the screen.
• Save when you want one file. Save As when you want two, or when you want to choose where it goes.
• If a program tells you it has saved, believe it. If it says nothing at all, press Ctrl+S out of habit — and if you want to keep an original untouched, make your copy before you start changing it.

Try this

Find something on your own machine you wrote from last year’s version. If it has final or v2 in the name, that is Save As doing what it is for — and it is worth checking the original is still there beside it.

Practice: Save, Save As, and where things go. Your first lesson is free, with no account or card; the rest are part of a Lantern plan. Interactive lessons require JavaScript.

Related guides

• The window everybody clicks past
• Save again, and find it tomorrow
• Tell Save from Save As
• Write something and save it where you can find it
• Find a document a week later