When I try to save my turbo tax form to my file on my Mac it says that my file is locked. Then turbo tax as me if i want save it anyway? I click this box. Is my file saved or not and why does it say my file is locked?

[Cubstah]

I had the same problem in the TY 2020 and again now in TY 2021. It's beyond frustrating.

[Cubstah]

That fixed it.

[Tc4all]

Same problem with 2021 taxes.  Never had this problem before.  Call it Mac or Intuit problem but none the less, I am not buying Turbo Tax next year.  I am done.  This is something Intuit should know about and have worked out with Apple if necessary.  This is teh only problem like this I have ever had.  TurboTax, goodbye.

[DJ327]

I’m using an iMac, running Big Sur 11.6.4.
I store my TurboTax 1040‘s on an external hard drive.  I had downloaded TurboTax 2021, and was perhaps a quarter of the way through it, when I found myself unable to save this TurboTax file. I then called Apple. The solution: to create a new “user“ on my computer. A tech walked me through the steps: Click 1) Apple icon (upper left corner) —> System Preferences —-> Users & Groups. 2) Unlock the lock-icon by inputting the password that you use to first open your computer. 3) At the bottom of the drop-down menu, click “+”. 4) In the blank rectangle that says “name,” type in a name for this new “user“ (E. G. “Test user“). 5) In the next rectangle (“account name“), auto fill will instantly add a name     (E. G. “testuser”). 6) Create a password for this new user.  I can’t recall if there are some further steps (I was too busy following the tech’s instructions). At some point, you may also need to input your “Apple ID“ (which is often just your email address) & your password (the one you use when purchasing Apple apps, etc.).  But shortly, your new-user screen appears. It will be different from your normal screen backdrop. But you should see your dock at the bottom. In my case, I also saw the icon for the external hard drive on which I’d stored my TurboTax file. I clicked it. The file opened up; but then asked me to go through the original steps once again of downloading any updates & reregistering the TurboTax software. But once I’d done so, my TurboTax file opened up, exactly where I’d left off. And, amazingly, I was now able to save the file! NOTE: You may also want to have your emails appear on this new-user screen (which I recommend, so that you can later email your finished 1040 directly to the IRS). To do so: Click on: Apple icon —> System Preferences —> Internet Accounts. This brings up, on the right side of the drop-down menu, five choices of email providers. (I chose “Yahoo,“ the provider I usually use.) After doing so, a list of five apps, that can be connected with your provider, appears. All five (like “mail,“ “contacts,“ etc.) were pre-checked. I left them that way. A moment or two later, I now had email connectivity on this “new user“ screen. Thank you, Apple tech-support!

[CarissaM]

Thank you for sharing such a detailed resolution! This will be a great help to the community. @DJ327

[iontheball]

The can't save - no autsave screwup with Turbo Tax is awful.  I have used Turbo tax for decades and this crap scares the hell out me regarding all the data have entered and I don't know it its saved.  Why isn't the fix coming across in an TT update.  There's no excuse for this on an application that is so labor intensive is input.  This is not a Mac issue.  The flag comes up on the tubo tax application ONLY!!

[CarissaM]

Have you tried the solution by @DJ327 @iontheball?

[jandrew2]

April 2022

TurboTax Problem, can’t save on Mac, solution:

Our family has successfully used this solution on 6 of our returns. You only have to do it once for the year you use TurboTax. I'm not a tech expert, but I pieced together a lot of responses till I found a combo that works. I'm an 82 y/o grandma; Senior Power!!

Make sure your TurboTax program is open and active.

Click on the Apple icon (upper left corner of Mac screen).

Click System Preferences.

Click Security and Privacy.

Click on the Privacy tab in the upper part of the window.

Click the yellow lock icon, lower left corner.

Enter your password and click Unlock. The icon will change to an open lock icon.

In the left panel, scroll to Full Disk Access and click on it.

In the right panel, scroll and look for TurboTax (year xxxx) and CHECK it. If TurboTax is not in the list, click the plus sign + that is just below the list. Navigate to the TT program, click it and click Open.

Click “Quit and Reopen”. This should grant you full access to save your TurboTax return wherever you prefer (such as on a thumb drive).

Note: This apparently disabled the “AutoSave” function in TT. Perhaps someone else can send us  that solution.

[FigSalong]

Hello....this is what I encountered.

I was experiencing the same problems with having TurboTax give notice (on my new 2021 iMac desktop) that the tax return for the year I was preparing was UNSAVED, then unable to save because it was locked. I did a GET INFO and it was not locked and I had full read/write authority.... THIS ended up being the problem for me: I was accessing the tax return file of preparation from a THUMB drive. Once I moved the tax return file (in this case xxxx.tax2021) to my desktop (back onto my physical iMac the problem ceased to exist and I could continue in peace!!!

Todd

[thjoyce]

The issue is most likely not Turbo Tax and permissions by your Mac. If you go to  System Preferences > Security & Privacy> Privacy. Then scroll down on the left window to the folder that says Full Disk Access. You should then see a window where both the 2020 and 2021 Turbo Tax icons should be checked. If they are not checked, then unlock the lock and go in and check them both. This solved all my issues. On the install it does not appear to check the box and you  need to do it manually.

This was the easy part! The hard part is calling in and dealing with that !!@@#$$!! robot and the service the company provides. Now that is a disaster!

[dosle]

This tip worked for my issue with Turbo Tax not saving TY2021.  thanks this was soooo frustrating

[CarissaM]

We are happy to hear your issue is resolved. Please let us know if we can assist you further. @dosle

[ac1325]

I have had the exact same issue with my MAC this year and last year.  last year I renamed it several times in order to finally file.  this year even that is not working.  this is an issue with turbo tax not the MAC

[CarissaM]

Please check the answer provided by @Mac_user22 here for assistance with this issue. 

Please let us know if you need further assistance. @ac1325

[davidhoward63]

How can I unlock my turbo tax so I can transmit?