IDLE freezing/unresponsive when saving new file

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I am brand new to python and programming more generally so 1) I'm an ignorant noob and I apologize and 2) I'm really just using IDLE for very basic learning. I'm running python 3.7.6 on Mac OS Catalina 10.15.3

My problem is bizarre: When I go to save a new .py file, IDLE freezes and becomes unresponsive. I'll hit CMD+S on a new/'Untitled.py' file, the save folder will pop open, and I can name the new file/navigate folders, but once I hit "Save", the program freezes with the save folder still open, except now the Save/Cancel buttons are greyed out and the entire application becomes unresponsive. My only recourse is to Force Quit and relaunch IDLE, and the new file I was trying to save never saved. You can imagine how fun this is.

What's weird is it doesn't happen every time. If I open IDLE, open a new file and very quickly/immediately save (which I try to do by default), then the file will save. Once I've saved it once, I have no problems saving the existing file as I work on it. That is, the issue is only with the creation/save of new files. I'm also not sure why sometimes I can Save a new file and other times (especially if IDLE has been open for a while) it crashes.

To be clear: I can open files, save existing files, and run programs I've written without incident. I am not getting any warnings, crash notifications, or notices of any kind that even acknowledge that IDLE is acting up.

I had 3.8, which I replaced for 3.7.6 thinking a more stable version might solve my problems, but no dice. I only have python 3.7.6 on my computer: No python 2, nothing else. I have no idea what's going on but this is super frustrating and I just want to be able to learn Python without these weird roadblocks.

Please help!

5 Answers

I've also had this problem, and what I did was change the location of where the file would save. I suggest trying this to help.

I'd suggest reinstalling python idle (your programs will be saved). If this doesn't work then maybe it has something to do with your security on the mac.

I had the same problem, and as Aadi suggested, I was able to fix it by changing the location of where the file was saved. Possibly, this relates to very long paths, at least in Windows 10. The path that didn't work was 114 characters long. The path that did work was 93 characters long. The paths are the same up to character 80 and use underscore (_) but no unusual characters.

You don't have to make/save python files in IDLE. You can open any text editor, type the code, and save as name.py. Then you can open that in IDLE. I would use that for now.

I also came across with same issue, this is only issue of currupt file,please delete recent python IDLE file that you have created,this will definately work

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