The window everybody clicks past

Read the Save window in three seconds, and always know which folder a thing has gone into.

The window that appears when you save has three things worth reading, and most people read one of them.

Key points

• The Save As window is asking you a question — the folder name across the top is the answer
• Pressing Enter straight away files it for you, usually in Documents
• Choose a folder rather than accepting one, and you never go hunting

What to remember

• The folder name across the top is the answer to “where did it go?”. Read it before you press Save, not after.
• A file always goes somewhere. The question is never “is it lost” but “which folder was showing”.

Try this

Open anything you have written and choose Save As. Do not save it — look at the window properly for ten seconds. Find the folder name, the name box and the type. Then press Esc to back out. That window will never confuse you again.

Practice: The window everybody clicks past. Your first lesson is free, with no account or card; the rest are part of a Lantern plan. Interactive lessons require JavaScript.

Related guides

• Save, Save As, and where things go
• Write something and save it where you can find it
• Save again, and find it tomorrow
• File names, and what the ending tells you
• Folders, and why they sit inside each other