SAVE AS default directory

[ronald_chinn]

I'm running the 2004 version of Excel on a brand new PowerBook (Mac OS
X 10.4.10). I'm frustrated because the SAVE AS function appears to
default to a silly location - logically, when you hit SAVE AS, you
would expect that it would default to saving the new file into the
location from whence the original file came. I can't find a
preference setting which allows me to do this - am I just blind? Any
help would be greatly appreciated so I can stop losing files and
having them strewn about my drive.

P.S.: I note that Word does not have this program - it defaults to
placing files into the same directory as the original location. And
as far as I can remember, the Windows version of Excel does this too.
It just seems to be the Mac version.

Thanks,
--Ron

 

[marybaker]

I'm running the 2004 version of Excel on a brand new PowerBook (Mac OS
X 10.4.10). I'm frustrated because the SAVE AS function appears to
default to a silly location - logically, when you hit SAVE AS, you
would expect that it would default to saving the new file into the
location from whence the original file came. I can't find a
preference setting which allows me to do this - am I just blind? Any
help would be greatly appreciated so I can stop losing files and
having them strewn about my drive.

I have this problem too. It's very annoying. I hope someone here can
offer a solution.

 

[Pete]

I have this problem too. It's very annoying. I hope someone here can
offer a solution.

Why don't you just use SAVE (not SAVE AS)? As far as I can tell, that
should address the problem unless you need to save as a different file
name or format. The SAVE AS function is, I think, intended for those
instances where you intend either to modify the format or save the
file to a different location than the original.

The default location with the SAVE AS function is location where you
last saved an Excel file (any Excel file). This works wonderfully if,
for example, I want to modify and save multiple Excel files from
multiple locations a common location (e.g. to my thumb drive). If,
under SAVE AS, you browse to where you want your new/modified file to
be, your next Excel file will also 'try' to stay there.

You also have the following option: Under Excel > Preferences >
General, you can set a default file location. I'm using the same
version of OS X, Excel (2004 for Mac, Version 11.3.6 (070618) on both
G5 and a MacBook Pro.

Hope this helps...

 

[ronald_chinn]

Hi Pete,

Thanks for your response. Well, the Save function isn't what I'm
looking for. The situation is this: let's say I have have a report
that I produce monthly. Last month, it was called TABLE_AUGUST_07.
Well, instead of recreating it from scratch, let's say for September,
I just want to use the August file as a template, modify as needed,
and Save As TABLE_SEPTEMBER_07. Well, it just poofs it to the last
place I saved a document, instead of the obvious place, which would
have been right next to TABLE_AUGUST_07.

I agree that saving to the last place that you saved a document CAN be
useful at times - it speeds work flow under certain conditions. But
in my case (and I can't be the only one), I've got a highly complex
directory structure with different clients, different work phases,
different reports, and different tables within each report. In my
case, defaulting to the last place I saved something really doesn't
make much sense - if I'm not careful, I will strew these tables all
over creation. And certainly working my way down a file tree and up
again just to save TABLE_SEPTEMBER_07 right next to TABLE_AUGUST_07 is
time consuming and...inelegant.

 

[rhoffmore]

I agree that saving to the last place that you saved a document CAN be
useful at times - it speeds work flow under certain conditions. But
in my case (and I can't be the only one), I've got a highly complex
directory structure with different clients, different work phases,
different reports, and different tables within each report. In my
case, defaulting to the last place I saved something really doesn't
make much sense - if I'm not careful, I will strew these tables all
over creation. And certainly working my way down a file tree and up
again just to save TABLE_SEPTEMBER_07 right next to TABLE_AUGUST_07 is
time consuming and...inelegant.

You are not the only one. This has frustrated me for some time. My
file structure sounds similar to yours... and I would presume that it
would be a common issue for many. Why else would Word and PowerPoint
both allow you to save to the same folder as the default setting?
Adobe Acrobat also has the same folder default. Consider also that
this is the way that Finder handles duplication of a file - it places
it right next to the original... and Save-As IS essentially the same
as duplication. Why is Excel different than all of them? To me it
only makes sense that similar files (ones that would serve well as
templates for each other) would commonly be in the same or nearby
(related) folders (where they can easily be dragged afterwards). I
hope that the next version of Excel for Mac addresses this need.

 

[JE McGimpsey]

I'm running the 2004 version of Excel on a brand new PowerBook (Mac OS
X 10.4.10). I'm frustrated because the SAVE AS function appears to
default to a silly location - logically, when you hit SAVE AS, you
would expect that it would default to saving the new file into the
location from whence the original file came. I can't find a
preference setting which allows me to do this - am I just blind? Any
help would be greatly appreciated so I can stop losing files and
having them strewn about my drive.

P.S.: I note that Word does not have this program - it defaults to
placing files into the same directory as the original location. And
as far as I can remember, the Windows version of Excel does this too.
It just seems to be the Mac version.

I think your "logically, when you hit SAVE AS, you would expect that it
would default to saving the new file into the location from whence the
original file came" is common, but by no means universal logic. I get
just as frustrated with Word's method...

Most of the time, I save emailed or downloaded client files into a
sandbox folder, then, after I've edited/modified them, I Save As them to
my client hierarchy. There's no *way* I want XL files saving back to the
sandbox...

My solution: I save all my client files with the client number prefix in
the filename. I set, in my business startup addin, XL's Default file
location (Preferences/General) to my Client folder, so that it ALWAYS
defaults to that folder on Save As.

Then I use attached Mac OS X Folder actions to automatically distribute
any files saved to the Client folder into the appropriate subfolders.

 

[Carl Witthoft]

Let me put my plug in for DefaultFolderX. It takes care of default
open/save locations, and lots LOTS more. Well worth the small shareware
fee.