Ubuntu – Cannot save any kind of file

downloadsfilesfirefoxlibreoffice

I am unable to save any file in Ubuntu. When I download any file using Firefox this dialog appears

could not be saved, because you cannot change the contents of that
folder.Change the folder properties and try again, or try saving in a
different location

and when I save any file from LibreOffice it shows

Error saving the document Untitled2: /home/user/Desktop/Untitled 2.odt does not exist. Error saving the document Untitled2: Write Error. The
file could not be written.

I have even tried many locations but unable to save anything.

Best Answer

Probably the permissions or ownership of files and directories in your home directory got messed up.

To fix ownership by giving it back to your current user for all files in your home directory, you can run this command in a terminal (will ask for your admin password):

sudo chown -R $USER: ~

If the problem is not ownership but permissions, you should provide the output of ls -l ~ so that we can see the file/directory listing of your home directory and check what permissions are likely wrong. Simply resetting all permissions to a new value would not be good here.

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