Can't save files or documents onto a USB hard drive since Big Sur 11.5.2 - Even tried another MacBook

Two things

1 - Does this issue present if booting in Safe Mode and Test

2 - Have you tried connecting the USB Drive Directly to the computer and Test

How is it formatted? The version message will appear for non-native file system formats.

Because of that, it may not allow you to change the name from the Titlebar. That titlebar name/location editor is a function of Versions.

Can you change the name in the Finder?

I haven’t ever tried to use any Versions enabled app on a non-native file system.

> formatting the USB

Did you use plain vanilla MacOS Extended, Journaled (GUID) or APFS for the whole device?

Recent Big Sur updates have tightened the limits on non-Mac filesystems. For example, Photos.app libraries now do not open if they are on an exFAT volume (an unintended bug seems to be the 0-byte .jpg export from Photos.app to a FAT volume).

Like the OP, tell us how the drive is formatted.

Test in Safe Mode and tell us if the same occurs.

Anyway, since in your case the problem does not occur in another account, I am thinking that your issue is different from that of the OP.

Please run Etrecheck and post its full report here.

Use the “additional text” button and paste the report into the text box.

> Previously with exFAT, I could use it with both Mac and PC, which was quite convenient.

I use exFAT, GUID only for files I want to share with Windows.

Or FAT, Master Boot Record for files presented on a smart TV (it does not understand exFAT), or for DJI drone (it understands exFAT but has the 4 GB file size limit even then and the drone itself uses FAT -- I always let the drone format the card on while the it is looking for satellites anyway).

Was the formatting done on Windows as exFat or performed on the Apple computer using exFat with MBR.

This is a guess but formatting I=on different platforms does seem to lay down a different Partition Map.

Related - formatting a Thumb Drive on Intel Apple Computer and formatting on Apple Silicon M1 definitely lays down different Partition Map as experienced when do this for a Bootable Installer for am M1 but done on Intel computer. It just failed time and time again. Once formatted on M1 - voila and presto - all is good.

Hi,

Mine are formatted exFat, and they were reformatted to this litterally a couple of months ago using my new iMac (M1) so I could get them working on the new iMac. Frustrating as they were working fine untill the latest OS update.

Reformatting them again is a real pain, since it seems to be just be textedit files I might leave them as they are in case Apple fix the issue on a later update.

cheers

Same issue here, apple support counldn't help either. Tested HD on a different mac, worked fine. tested on different user, worked fine.

Waiting on another update.

Bit frustrating.

I don't know why it is not working.

I just grabbed two thumb drives, one formatted FAT and one ExFAT, and I had no trouble saving files, or renaming them from the window title in TextEdit.