Cannot save as PDF in Word, Excel or PowerPoint

While exporting documents, sheets, slides, etc. from Word, Excel, PowerPoint, or other Microsoft 365 apps, if you see an error message, here is how you can fix the issue. whether you encounter Sorry, we couldn’t find your file, Was it moved, renamed, or deleted or An error occurred while PowerPoint was saving the file, or anything else, you can go through these solutions to troubleshoot the problem.

From what we have gathered, folks are seeing the following error message:

Microsoft Word: Sorry, we couldn’t find your file, Was it moved, renamed, or deleted
Microsoft Excel: Document not saved. The document may be open, or an error may have been encountered when saving.
Microsoft PowerPoint: An error occurred while PowerPoint was saving the file.
Microsoft Publisher: Publisher cannot save the file.

This error might drive you insane but worry not, we’ve got you well covered. Here’s how to fix this particular issue once and for all.

Can’t save as PDF in Word, Excel or PowerPoint

If you cannot export to or save as PDF using Office apps, follow these solutions:

Repair Microsoft Office
sRGB Color Space Profile in the wrong place
Check Recycle Bin for deleted items
Ensure the file location

To learn more about these solutions, continue reading.

1] Repair Microsoft Office

If you use Windows 11, follow these steps to repair Microsoft Office:

Press Win+I to open Windows Settings.
Go to Apps > Installed apps.
Find Microsoft 365 and click on the three-dotted icon.
Select Modify.
Choose the Quick Repair option.
Click the Repair button.

However, if the Quick Repair option doesn’t work, you need to choose the Online Repair option.

If you are using Windows 10, follow these steps:

Before making any other moves, please repair your Microsoft Office installation. We do this by right-clicking on the Start button, then from there, select Apps and Features via the WinX pop-up menu.

Select Microsoft Office from the list, and click on Modify when it appears.

Follow the instructions to repair your Microsoft Office installation. However, repairing your installation might not work, so if that is the case, follow the tip below.

2] sRGB Color Space Profile in the wrong place

OK, so here’s the thing. Word or another Office app is looking for the sRGB Color Space Profile.icm is in the wrong place. Because of this, the app is unable to locate the profile for use. You thus have to delete these Registry values.

Create a system restore point first and then launch the Run dialog, then type regedit into the box and hit the Enter key. After doing so, please seek out Path:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ICM\RegisteredProfiles

Look for the sRGB value and delete it from the Registry.

Next, go to Path:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ICM\RegisteredProfiles

Look out for the sRGB value and delete it.

Finally, you can now attempt to export your PDF documents.

3] Check Recycle Bin for deleted items

If the file was deleted during editing or before exporting to PDF, you might come across the aforementioned error. In that case, you need to open the Recycle Bin and check if the file is there or not. If yes, you need to restore it to the original location.

4] Ensure the file location

If you have opened a file from cloud storage such as Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox, etc., you need to ensure that the file is still there or not. If multiple people access the same file, there is a chance that another person has moved the file to another location. In that case, you need to move the file back to the previous location.

Please let us know if it worked for you or not.

Read: How to Extract and Save PDF Metadata in Windows

How do I enable Save As PDF in Office 365?

Nothing needs to be done to enable or disable the Save As PDF option in Microsoft Office 365 apps. In order to save or export a file to PDF, you need to go to File > Save As. Open the Save as type list and choose the PDF option. Then, you can choose a location, give it a name, and click the Save button. Alternatively, you can opt for the printing wizard and save the file in PDF.

Why is my Word not exporting to PDF?

Some of the common reasons why Word fails to export to PDF are:

The file has been moved. If your file is not there where it was while opening, you cannot do anything with the file.
If your file is corrupted, you cannot export it to PDF. Try repairing the file first.
If the owner of the file has revoked access to the file, you cannot edit or export the file to PDF.

Read: How to save webpage as PDF file in Edge Browser