I try to initially save (save as) my turbotax return. Strangely, I get a dialog/error box that says "file not found" and "Check the file name and try again"

Try looking in your browser to see if anything has already been saved for this return and if so, use that name.

Look in my browser? that does not make sense. Did you read my detailed description of the issue? Did you look at the picture of the TurboTax software "save tax return" dialog box? Please explain further if you are trying to provide a serious answer/suggestion.

Can someone provide instructions to get a response with relevant product support?

This is still broken in this most ridiculous way.

Did you try saving it with a different shorter name?  Try to save it with a simple name and to somewhere else like to the Desktop.  Do you get any error codes?  Here’s one I found
<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1899721-error-131-there-was-an-error-in-saving-your-file-when-saving-tax-return">https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1899721-error-131-there-was-an-error-in-saving-your-file-when-saving-tax-return</a>

And <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/2922914-error-10250-turbotax-encountered-an-error-when-saving-or-loading-your-data-file">https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/2922914-error-10250-turbotax-encountered-an-error-when-saving-or-loading-your-data-file</a>

Is your hard drive too full?  <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1901617-error-144-no-disk-space">https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1901617-error-144-no-disk-space</a>

Can you save it as a pdf file?

Actually the .tax and .pdf files should be in your Documents but then in a Turbo Tax subfolder.  Right click on Documents in the left column and make a New folder called TurboTax the try to save into that.

I'm back.  I asked around and the moderation gave me this FAQ to see if it helps
<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/4044949">https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/4044949</a>

Results from these suggestions:

Did you try saving it with a different shorter name?
and to somewhere else like to the Desktop
-The filename is generated by the TurboTax application.
-I can and did try using short simple file name and have the same results
-(it fails just the same with same, nonsense reason)

Do you get any error codes?
-The result of all return file save attempts is the same and is as shown in the image file I provided.
-If there are codes, they are not presented to me.
-Do I need to go looking somewhere for error codes?

Is your hard drive too full?
-I have 51.5GB free space.

Can you save it as a pdf file?
-same result, fails with same message.

.tax and .pdf files should be in your Documents but then in a Turbo Tax subfolder.
Right click on Documents in the left column and make a New folder called TurboTax the try to save into that.
-I tried this, -same result, fails with same message.

this FAQ to see if it helps
<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/4044949">https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/4044949</a>
-I do not see the error codes referenced in this "FAQ"

This error may be experienced for the following reasons:
1. The file may be corrupted:
-the file does not exist, and TurboTax is failing to create and write it, so it can't be corrupted, and so this does not apply.

2. The location you are saving to has either moved, does not exist, or is corrupted:
-the location does in fact exist, and has not been moved, I can put other things there, create sub-directories, all working, so this does not apply.

3. You may not have Read/Write access privileges to the location you are attempting to save to:
The main cause of not having read/write access is not being logged in as the admin user of the computer.
If saving to a removable drive it could be set to read only If set to read only you will need to set the removable drive to read/write access.

- I am logged in as the (only user) and as admin, it is my home directory, my documents directory, etc. No legitimate reason for me to not have Read/Write access to these directories. It seems also to be verified that I do have Read/Write permission, since I am able to create files and directories there manually.

-This raises the question, that perhaps TurboTax does not have Read/Write permission for some strange reason? If so, it would be nice for TurboTax to recognize this situation.

-I searched and found a number of old complaints by Win 10 users who have lost permission to access their own directories. I tried the "security" "advanced" method of telling Windows to allow me full access to my home and sub-directories. No improvement obtained, the same failure with same message occurs as always. Windows is now so convoluted and there is so much confusion in their posted attempts to fix the issue that I have no confidence of what the issue may be, or how to fix it either.

-TurboTax should provide a valid failure message like "unable to write to the location specified" if this is the cause.

-Then, I tried doing the initial save of my tax return to a thumb drive, which worked just fine. Wow, what a mess, but a simple work around that should be presented in a better way for users, especially in light of the bogus message provided when trying to save the file in the software.

Perhaps when TurboTax fails to save the return file in this way, it can say: "oops, I am failing here, please try to save your return file to a USB thumb drive instead of the default location"

Thanks for posting back what finally worked. It may help someone else.  Then were you able to copy it to the hard drive?  And then start saving directly to the hard drive?  Maybe start a new test return and try saving it too.

I manually copied the file from the thumb drive to the Documents>TurboTax path and that worked perfectly. I then open the file from there to proceed, try to save the updated file, and I get an Error "having trouble saving" dialog box with Error: 102348.

It suggests I try unplugging "my device", which is a bad idea, because it would not be good at all to unplug my C: drive.

I tried again to save another test return file to the default location in Turbotax, and it fails giving the same bogus message as before.

So this is still very broken for an unknown reason, unless I refrain from using my file space on the system drive.

Did you ever try reinstalling the program?  Then update it.   I think it meant to unplug your computer from the internet.

This is a fresh install of the retail TurboTax software from optical media I purchased. It is fully updated. I do not see how unplugging my computer from the Internet would improve the software's ability to save a file to the C: drive. I don't plan to try that.

Please be on the lookout for an email from Social We Care regarding the issue you are experiencing.  Thank you!

Check your windows security settings for Folder Access.  I had the exact same issue, turned off Controlled Folder Access, and then the initial save worked fine. 

I am experiencing this same problem with 2019 Turbo Tax Premier.   I have used TT for many years and have never experienced this problem in the past.  If there is a glitch in the program, why is Intuit not taking care of it with the software updates that start up every time you access the program?

If you feel you are having issues, please contact customer support by following the instructions below.  

https://ttlc.intuit.com/replies/3300041  

But if you still feel you require additional assistance, you can contact us at (800) 446-8848.  

Hi! I have the same problem as original post. The user has detailed everything I tried before I came searching the web for answers. I am unable to save my returns in any folder on my C Drive. Thanks to the work around of saving it to a thumb drive, I can at least save what I have been working on for now. This is early in the Tax return season. But this could spell a huge trouble when users buy your software and try to save their tax returns as the deadline to file approaches and it gets into full swing. Please have a fix for this soon.

I am getting the following message when attempting to do the initial season return save ...

C;\Users\wch\documents\Turbo Tax\2021 Name Form 1040 Individual Tax Return.tax2021

File Not Found

Check the file name and try again.

Why?

Check your windows security settings for Folder Access... Turn off Controlled Folder Access.

Ok, that did it

So why does'nt that simple response show up in Frequently Ask Questions?

Just a suggestion

I had the same problem - the 'solution' is to save the file to a thumb drive and then move that file to the hard drive.  Unbelievable that TurboTax has this issue and one has to wonder how much testing they really did perform on the 2021 product.

Having the same issue with TT2021. 

Found a solution.  It might not be Turbo Tax's fault but Windows Security. 

Don't turn off Controlled folder access.  That might compromise your Windows security.  

Here's what you do.  First close your Turbo Tax app.

1. Search "Controlled Folder Access" in Windows

2. Click the link: "Allow an app through Controlled folder access"

3. Click the "+ Add an allowed app" button near the top of the app list

4. Select "Recently Blocked App"

5. Find the Turbo Tax executable

6. Try to save your tax file again.

Hope this helps some of you.

Thank you for letting the community know how this helped you! @vialins3