Huh? After you download the pdf from online you can change the name or location on your computer. Or are you using the Desktop program? Please explain more.
Can you describe that more? What product are you using? Are you using Online TurboTax, or the desktop software (CD/download)? If the software, then Mac or Windows?
Using desktop version. When you try to save a form or your return as a PDF the 2020 version takes you to a screen that looks like file manager on a PC but it is not file manager. And you can't sort the files there by name or by modified date. In 2019 when one went to save as a PDF it took you to file manager. Wish I could show you.
@ RW14
wrote:Using desktop version. When you try to save a form or your return as a PDF the 2020 version takes you to a screen that looks like file manager on a PC but it is not file manager. And you can't sort the files there by name or by modified date. In 2019 when one went to save as a PDF it took you to file manager. Wish I could show you.
I've got 2020 and 2019 TurboTax open at the same time. I can't detect any difference in the way the two years handle saving as a PDF. But I think I may know what you are referring to, which is a Windows File Explorer setting in that popup.
When you click on "Save as PDF", do you get a little Windows File Explorer popup, and a single column with no column labels showing? If so, this is due to an "options" setting in that little popup File Explorer window.
I'll show 2 images below which are using Windows 10. The first has just a single column with no column labels because the File Explorer options in that popup are set to "list." To get the column labels, click the options symbol in the popup to toggle through the options, or use the small adjacent arrowhead, and there are several display options. Choose the option labelled "details", which will show column headers, then one can sort by clicking on a column header. The second image shows the column headers present after I chose "details."
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Thanks for trying to help - see my screen shot below - sorry about all the red cross offs - I didn't know how else to hide my date. That is what my 2020 save as pdf screen looks like. The Name and Modified columns are all that appear - and when you click on them they don't sort the columns. So as you can see my 2005 files are at the top and I can't get the recent ones to come to the top because it won't sort.
Not a big deal buy annoying. The 2019 save as pdf takes me to a normal file explorer screen. All the columns are there and they can be sorted. This sure appears to be some sort of TT bug.
Here is my 2019 screen. Fully functional file explorer - all columns present and can be sorted.
PS - I too am using Windows 10. No I don't get a little popup when I go to save as PDF.
Are you saving from the File Menu up top or are you saving from Forms Mode? I just tried both ways and am on Windows 10 also. In Forms Mode, I selected All official forms and then clicked on Save As PDF - It was the same when I did this from the File Menu. I got the following screens. When you right-click on the menu bar where you only have Name and Modified Date, can you add other columns? Your first ss looks like it is sorted by Name.
You wrote: "No I don't get a little popup when I go to save as PDF."
Those do appear to be popup windows. Mine just happen to be smaller. The size is manually adjustable by dragging the edge. Yours are just expanded more and bigger than mine. They overlie the main TurboTax screen. The size will vary from person to person.
The first image you posted (2020) doesn't have the little "options" symbol in the top right corner like mine does. Your second image (2019) does have the little "options" symbol in the top right corner. I don't know why your 2020 image is different. My 2019 and 2020 windows look the same and can be sorted; i.e., I can sort by either Name or Date Modified and can click again to change the direction to make the newest appear at the top.
My 2019 and 2020 "Save As" windows both look like your second image, and are the same as my image I originally posted above. The only difference is that mine are black. Both of mine have the little "options" symbol in the top right corner. I cannot tell any difference between my 2019 and 2020 Explorer windows. I can't reproduce anything that looks like the first image (2020) you posted. The top and bottom area of your 2020 screen looks different than the top and bottom areas of your 2019 screen and different from either of mine. And the left column directory tree looks like an old version of Explorer with "+" symbols to expand folders.
Since we're both using Windows 10, I don't know why your 2019 and 2020 would be different from each other, while mine aren't. So let's be sure we are both producing them the same way.
There are at least 3 ways to save a PDF in the TurboTax Program. How are you doing it? Here are some examples. When you try the 3 methods, do you get any difference among them, or do all of them produce the same result as your image 1, which you can't sort?
Method 1
With the 2020 return open, go to top left corner and click FILE, then in the dropdown choose "Save to PDF."
Then in the popup windows that allows you to choose what to include, click the button "Save as PDF."
Method 2
With the 2020 return open, go to the top left corner and click FILE, and in the dropdown choose "Print."
Then in the popup window that allows you to choose what to include, click the button "Save as PDF."
Method 3
Go into Forms Mode and pull up the Form 1040 or any form.
Then at the bottom of the screen choose the PRINT button.
Then in the popup window that allows you to choose what to include, click the button "Save as PDF."
All 3 methods produce the same end result for me, like the Explorer image I posted, and all can be sorted in either direction; i.e., one can reverse the sorting direction by clicking the column header again.
@ DawnC
Compare the top and bottom areas of his 2 images. The first image is 2020 and his second image is 2019. They are different at the top, and also the fields at the bottom are in different positions. Both of mine are the same; I can't tell my 2 years apart. I don't know why his 2020 Explorer popup looks different. It's like it's an older version. He says he's using Windows 10.
Also on the 2020 image his directory tree in the left column appears different. It appears to have an old look from Explorer several years ago with "+" symbol used to expand each folder.
I can't reproduce it. Both my 2019 and 2020 programs produce the same Explorer window for the Save As.
nope - can't add columns or get it to sort. My 2019 is fully functional that way. It is only with 2020 that I have the problem. So I don't think it is anything I am doing.
I tried all three ways you suggested with the same result. It always comes to that funky screen with the + sign. And by the way those plus signs don't work for the other folders shown. If I click on another folder it shows the files in that folder but they all have the red turbotax check mark in front of them - even though they are not turbotax files.
Since I see the fully functional Explorer options in 2019 but not in 2020 I don't think it is anything I am doing as a user. I think it is a program problem
I agree that is the problem. No explaining why there is a difference.
Maybe this is a workaround:
Before launching 2020 TurboTax, open only your Windows 10 File Explorer. Go to the directory where all your TurboTax PDFs are. Sort them there by date (newest to oldest). Then open 2020 TurboTax and try the "Save As". While that may not change the interface appearance, does the Explorer popup now have the files in the correct order that you are wanting?
I'm sorry I don't know anything else to suggest. It's probably some quirky interaction between your 2020 TurboTax and Windows File Explorer making it pull up an old Explorer interface setting instead of the modern one that people are used to in Windows 10. You can talk to TurboTax Support, if you wish, but I think it will be hard for them to understand what you are experiencing without seeing your images and this thread's discussion comparing the 2 interfaces.
One other point, which may or may not have anything to do with it, but it is something different from what I use. You appear to be saving your data files on a different drive (or partition) separate from your system drive (or partition.) In your 2019 image (i.e., the normal Explorer) you appear to be using drive/partition "D" for your data. I don't know if that is a partition, a second internal drive, external drive, or what. But again, that may or may not mean anything. It's just another thing that's different from my system.
The drive structure is probably the same on your 2020 image, but the left folder list is scrolled down, so it doesn't show the drive letters. (You don't need to post any more images.)
It is not a partition. I have two internal drives and have been advised it is better to store data on the spinning disk vs. the SSD drive. Since both the 2019 and the 2020 data sits on the D drive I don't see how that could be the issue.
I like your thinking but that didn't work either.
Do you know if there is any downside to uninstalling and reinstalling the program to see if that fixes it? I have the CD but I don't know if Intuit will object to another install.
@ RW14
wrote:Do you know if there is any downside to uninstalling and reinstalling the program to see if that fixes it? I have the CD but I don't know if Intuit will object to another install.
I'm a fellow user. I don't work for TurboTax.
I'm going to be neutral on that. It depends on whether you want to assume the risks or open another can of worms. I don't know how many activations you have left.
Normally it "shouldn't" hurt anything to uninstall/reinstall, but it will probably use up another license activation (you get 5 activations.) However, I can't guarantee the safety of your data files and PDFs, since they are not in the default location. I don't know how/where you saved all your data files and PDFs and whether they will be protected from deletion by the uninstall. Normally they are safe when one leaves them in the default folder, but you chose a special location. It may be that your custom location is a safe location, but I don't know. If they are in a folder that TurboTax removes, for instance, then they might be removed. It's possible that in a custom location like you used they would be safe from the uninstall program, but I have no experience in that. I've never had to uninstall a TurboTax program, but I'd backup my data files and PDFs before I did--just in case.
If you decide to uninstall, then if were you, I'd back up all data files and PDFs first--just in case. I'm sure you wouldn't want to lose all those years of tax data and PDF files. Maybe you already have a system backup program or disk imaging software, etc, or can manually save them in a second safe location, such as an external drive. If you had purchased and downloaded any program installation files previously, I'd back those up, too.
Also, while you can reinstall from the CD, if desired, if I was going to reinstall, I wouldn't do it from the CD. I would download a program installation file to use to install. The CD is always the first release, while the program installation file has undergone several releases and improvements since the CD came out last November.
If you want to download the installation file, here's how to do it.
If you already have a TurboTax/Intuit account, be sure to use your existing one.
thanks. I did a reinstall and my data seems fine. But still have the problem.
I was not able to do from the download since they say my license is associated with another account and I don't have another account. I bought it at Costco so perhaps I can't associate that with my account?
FYI - I was able to get around the repair issue I was having. Repair ran successfully and still didn't fix the problem. Talked to technical help and they couldn't help either. He had no idea why I am getting that view on saving pdf files.
I'm sorry I don't have anything else to add.
If you want a download and are having trouble getting it, you'd need to talk to Customer Support, and they can place one in your account, and you can ask them about your issue at the same time.
Hours are 5AM-9PM Pacific (8AM-12 Midnight Eastern) 7 days/week.
You can use this contact form to get a phone number.
https://support.turbotax.intuit.com/contact
As I said I already talked to them. He was able to remote access my computer so he could see the issue. I opened 2019 and 2020 to show him how different they look. While he could see the problem, he was clueless on how to address. Sigh.
@RW14 wrote:As I said I already talked to them. He was able to remote access my computer so he could see the issue. I opened 2019 and 2020 to show him how different they look. While he could see the problem, he was clueless on how to address. Sigh.
I saw it too late. You apparently posted 2 comments in a row, and I was responding to your first comment. I didn't know you had posted another one right under it. I didn't see your second comment that you had talked to Support until I had responded to the first. You had said you had tried to get a download from your account, and it wouldn't let you.. At that point I didn't know you had already talked to Customer Support so I told you how to reach them to get a download. I don't have any confidence that would make a difference, however, since I don't know what is causing your issue in the first place. I don't know for sure whether it's a TurboTax product or some Windows quirk. I've never seen anyone report the same thing in the forum, but I only see a small percentage of threads.
Perhaps some other user will see the thread and further comment. Sorry I can't help any further. If you ever figure out what it is, please return to this thread and post a followup.