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What Does "The document “[file name]” is on a volume that does not support permanent version storage." Mean?

Since I updated my MacBook to macOS Big Sur, I can't save files onto an exFAT USB drive. I've tried multiple hard drives, even tried another MacBook Pro 2020, but nothing works, it says "The document "[name of the document]" could not be saved." It has nothing to do with the file extension. I've also tried to erase/format all the USB drives, nothing helps. Besides this another kind of window pops up that says "The document “[file name]” is on a volume that does not support permanent version storage."? If I try to open the file with another application, Sublime Text, for example, it works without any problem, with or without the file extension. I've tried all of the "basic" solutions like restarting my computer, formatting the USB, changing the USB adapter dongle, etc. nothing works.

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iBoysoft author Vain Rowe

Vain Rowe

Answered on Tuesday, January 27, 2026

Hi there, as for the message you received which says "The document “[file name]” is on a volume that does not support permanent version storage." it is because this feature is only available for HFS+ volumes, and is not supported by OSX FUSE. Put simply, macOS Big Sur officially applies APFS instead of HFS+ and might replace the function to save a file with a .rtf extension on an exFAT USB drive with other new features.

You can install other macOS versions if you insist on using this file-saving function since I can save a file with a .rtf extension without on my macOS Monterey.

 

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