Opening & saving files
Markpion's error messages say what happened and what you can do next. They're explained here.
"You don't have permission to write here"
Problem: saving fails with "you don't have permission to write here. Use Save As to save a copy somewhere else."
Symptoms: the tab stays marked as unsaved; your text is still in the editor. A file that's read-only when you open it shows a read-only bar instead, before you start typing (see Read-only files).
Possible cause: the file or folder is read-only, belongs to another user or administrator, or is in a protected location such as C:\Program Files. On Windows, a sync or antivirus program can also lock the file for a moment.
Solution:
- Use File → Save As… (Ctrl+Shift+S) to save a copy in a folder you own, such as Documents.
- Or remove the file's read-only flag, or ask its owner for write access.
- If it happened once and then works, a program was briefly holding the file; Markpion already retries a few times on Windows.
"The disk is full"
Problem: saving fails with "the disk is full. Free up space and try again — your text is still in the editor."
Solution: free up space (empty the Trash or Recycle Bin, delete large files), then save again. Nothing is lost while the app is open.
"The file was changed by another program"
Problem: a banner says the file changed on disk, or saving fails because it changed.
Possible cause: another program (Git, a sync client, another editor) changed the file after you opened it.
Solution: choose Reload (discard mine) to take the version on disk, Compare to open it next to yours, or Keep Mine and save to overwrite it. See Files changed on disk.
"The file is not valid UTF-8"
Problem: a file won't open: "The file is not valid UTF-8 (invalid byte at position …). It was not opened to avoid corrupting it."
Possible cause: the file uses another encoding, such as Windows-1252 or UTF-16, or isn't a text file.
Solution: convert it to UTF-8 in another editor (for example, in Notepad choose Save As → Encoding: UTF-8), then open it again. Markpion doesn't open it to avoid damaging it on save.
"The maximum supported size is 50 MB"
Problem: a very large file won't open.
Solution: documents up to 50 MB can be opened. Split larger files into several documents. Above 1 MB, the live preview pauses to keep typing fast; use Render Now in the preview.
"The file or folder no longer exists"
Problem: opening a recent file, or saving, fails because the file was moved or deleted.
Solution: open it from its new location with File → Open File…, or use Save As to save your text somewhere else.
"Markpion hasn't been given access to this location"
Problem: a file can't be opened or saved: "Open the file or its folder first."
Possible cause: for privacy, Markpion only accesses files and folders you've opened yourself.
Solution: open the file with File → Open File…, or its folder with File → Open Folder….
Additional diagnostics
Help → Export Diagnostic Logs… saves a log of the failed operations (no document text).
Report an issue
If a file won't open or save and none of this applies, report it on GitHub with the exact message and the diagnostic log.