Error message when you try to save a changed InfoPath form to a form library: "InfoPath cannot save the form"

Symptoms

Consider the following scenario.

• You open a Microsoft InfoPath form by clicking the form name in a SharePoint form library.

• Before you open the form, you do not check out the form document.

• The library in which the form is located is configured to require documents to be checked out. However, you do not receive a message that states that the form must be checked out.

• You change the form and then try to overwrite the original form by using one of the following methods:

  • You click the Save icon.

  • You click the Save As icon but try to overwrite the file by providing the same destination folder and file name.

In this scenario, you receive the following error message:

Note If you open the form by clicking Edit in Browser on the dropdown menu for the form, you are prompted to check out the form.

Cause

This behavior occurs because InfoPath receives an "Access denied" error result from SharePoint. InfoPath receives this error result when InfoPath tries to obtain a lock on the destination file to overwrite the destination file. This error result occurs because the document is not checked out.

Resolution

To resolve this behavior, check out the form document before you change the form. To do this, locate the form document in the form library, and then click Check Out in the list next to the document.

If you are not sure whether the document must be checked out, you should open the dropdown menu for the form and then click Edit in Microsoft InfoPath to open the form. If check-out is required, InfoPath returns the following message:

You must check out this item before making changes. Do you want to check out this item now?

More Information

If you have already made changes to a document that you did not check out, you can save them by using the Save As icon and then providing a new file name or location for the form. 

If you manage a SharePoint site and find that this problem frequently occurs, you may want to consider making one of the following changes:

• Add a text message to the InfoPath form template that reminds users to check out the form before editing it.

• In the library versioning settings, set Require Check Out to No.

• Change the form template form type from a Web Browser form to an InfoPath Filler Form, and then republish the template.