Cannot take screenshots...

[Ellvar]

So I am uncertain when this issue began as I have not tried to take any screenshots for a very long time(over a year) but whenever I attempt to take screenshots I always get the Screenshot Failed error message.

I have spent the past hour asking my FC mates and searching on the internet but nothing seems to work. And to pre-empt the obvious, yes I am administrator for my computer so I have no permission restrictions and I have ownership of the screenshots folder in the windows settings.

First I tried adding both the FFXIV exe's and the screenshots folders to exceptions for Anti-Virus in case that was interfering. No joy.

Next, I restarted my computer, disabling my anti-virus to make sure. No joy.

Third I noticed that the location in the settings menu did not quite match up(in terms of username) to the location of the folder file path on my drive so I attempted to change that, however it then told me that the location folder was read only and so could not be changed. There is absolutely NOTHING I can do about the folder being Read Only, all folders are Read Only by default now on Windows 10 and you cannot disable that fact.

Fourth I tried creating a new folder, but again the game would not let me change the screenshot folder location because the target folder was read only so I couldn't change it.

So as it stands I seem to be stuck in a loop, I can't take screenshots presumably because the folder location doesn't match up correctly with the actual folder and I can't correct the location because windows has all folders by default set to read only and the game won't let me choose a read only folder.

Short of using a third party program to start taking screengrabs, which I would find a very clunky way of doing things considering I don't take screenshots very often I don't know what to do.

Any solution would be very much appreciated.

[Dynratygus]

Good afternoon and thank you for posting on the Final Fantasy XIV Technical Support Forums.

If you have not done so already, could you please try the following trouble shooting:

- Right-click the 'FINAL FANTASY XIV' folder located in 'My Games' and open the folder properties. Uncheck the box marked 'Read Only'. Apply the changes.

- Run the game as Administrator. You can do this by right-clicking the game icon and select 'Run as Administrator'.

- If you have programs installed that perform back-ups of your files (IE. OneDrive), please check to make sure it is not trying to access your screenshots folder while playing. You can adjust these settings by allowing exceptions for folders.

If the above troubleshooting does not resolve the issue, please try checking the game client's directory path to ensure it matches with the directory path where your Screenshots folder resides. An example would be C:\Users\USERS\Documents\My Games\FINAL FANTASY XIV - A Realm Reborn\screenshots while one of the directory pathways is C:\Users\MYNAME\Documents\My Games\FINAL FANTASY XIV - A Realm Reborn\screenshots


Thank you for visiting the Final Fantasy XIV Technical Support Forums.

[Ellvar]

In response to your suggestions.

- Right-click the 'FINAL FANTASY XIV' folder located in 'My Games' and open the folder properties. Uncheck the box marked 'Read Only'. Apply the changes.

As mentioned in my original post, I have done that, but you cannot unselect Read Only on Windows 10 anymore. When I uncheck the box it automatically reapplies it the moment you close the window, however this is not an issue for other games with similar screenshot folders, I have tested in 5 different games and their screenshot function works perfectly.

- Run the game as Administrator. You can do this by right-clicking the game icon and select 'Run as Administrator'.

I tried this after my original post, it had no effect whatsoever.

- If you have programs installed that perform back-ups of your files (IE. OneDrive), please check to make sure it is not trying to access your screenshots folder while playing. You can adjust these settings by allowing exceptions for folders.

I do not have any installed.

If the above troubleshooting does not resolve the issue, please try checking the game client's directory path to ensure it matches with the directory path where your Screenshots folder resides. An example would be C:\Users\USERS\Documents\My Games\FINAL FANTASY XIV - A Realm Reborn\screenshots while one of the directory pathways is C:\Users\MYNAME\Documents\My Games\FINAL FANTASY XIV - A Realm Reborn\screenshots

I mentioned this in my original post, but I shall elaborate. The file path of the default screenshot folder created by the game does not exactly match the path in FFXIV's settings in game(my username has a space in it and FFXIV only has the half of of my username before the space). But as I mentioned in the original post the game WILL NOT allow me change the screenshots folder. Everytime I attempt to do so it tells me that the selected folder is Read Only. I have two Hard Drives in my system and have tried creating a folder especially on both drives and I get the same error message regardless.

[Alien_Gamer]

The file path of the default screenshot folder created by the game does not exactly match the path in FFXIV's settings in game(my username has a space in it and FFXIV only has the half of of my username before the space). But as I mentioned in the original post the game WILL NOT allow me change the screenshots folder. Everytime I attempt to do so it tells me that the selected folder is Read Only. I have two Hard Drives in my system and have tried creating a folder especially on both drives and I get the same error message regardless.

The MYNAME in the path is the name you gave windows when you made your windows profile, it is not your FF name or tied to FF in any way. That your FF username is different is expected and unrelated to your issues.

If you can't change the Read Only status on the folder, that is an issue with your windows permissions, not the game. Either you aren't logged in as Administrator or you didn't give yourself administrator access when you made your windows profile. Either way, you'll need to log in as an administrator to change the Read Only setting on the folder.

[ICountFrom0]

In response to your suggestions.



As mentioned in my original post, I have done that, but you cannot unselect Read Only on Windows 10 anymore. When I uncheck the box it automatically reapplies it the moment you close the window, however this is not an issue for other games with similar screenshot folders, I have tested in 5 different games and their screenshot function works perfectly.



I tried this after my original post, it had no effect whatsoever.



I do not have any installed.



I mentioned this in my original post, but I shall elaborate. The file path of the default screenshot folder created by the game does not exactly match the path in FFXIV's settings in game(my username has a space in it and FFXIV only has the half of of my username before the space). But as I mentioned in the original post the game WILL NOT allow me change the screenshots folder. Everytime I attempt to do so it tells me that the selected folder is Read Only. I have two Hard Drives in my system and have tried creating a folder especially on both drives and I get the same error message regardless.

You want to see soemthing HILARIOUS?

Change the screenshot folder. Put it somewhere else completely different.

Make a folder in the root of the drive, say c:/screen/ ... look at it, confirm that it's not read only.

Now, put that adress into ff14, tell it that's the screen shot folder.

The folder INSTANTLY becomes read only, and locked that way.

Now change it to another folder, that folder locks down, but you can remove the read only on the other folder.

I reported this bug about a year ago, and it was transferred to general and dismissed as me lying by the GM's.

A few months ago a patch fixed it so it stopped doing it and I could take screenshots again. Completely at random with no mention of the bug in the patch notes.

Now it's your turn to fight the system and see if they'll listen.

Goodluck.

[Garten]

Take the screenshot, open something like Paint, Press ctrl+v, save. That Is how i do since 2.0

[Sove92]

Add an AV exception to whatever third party software you are using that is hooking to the game process. GShade, Reshade etc. are already easy culprits.

[Ellvar]

The MYNAME in the path is the name you gave windows when you made your windows profile, it is not your FF name or tied to FF in any way. That your FF username is different is expected and unrelated to your issues.

If you can't change the Read Only status on the folder, that is an issue with your windows permissions, not the game. Either you aren't logged in as Administrator or you didn't give yourself administrator access when you made your windows profile. Either way, you'll need to log in as an administrator to change the Read Only setting on the folder.

I am not refering to my FF name. My windows username has a space in it, it is two words seperated by a space. The file path that FFXIV has for the screenshot folder has only the first of these two words in the MYNAME part of the file path. Also as far as I can see my useraccount is admin, so it says in the permissions.

You want to see soemthing HILARIOUS?

Change the screenshot folder. Put it somewhere else completely different.

Make a folder in the root of the drive, say c:/screen/ ... look at it, confirm that it's not read only.

Now, put that adress into ff14, tell it that's the screen shot folder.

The folder INSTANTLY becomes read only, and locked that way.

Now change it to another folder, that folder locks down, but you can remove the read only on the other folder.

I reported this bug about a year ago, and it was transferred to general and dismissed as me lying by the GM's.

A few months ago a patch fixed it so it stopped doing it and I could take screenshots again. Completely at random with no mention of the bug in the patch notes.

Now it's your turn to fight the system and see if they'll listen.

Goodluck.

Whenever I create a folder on Windows 10, if I inspect it's properties, it is automatically set to Read Only, there is no way I can turn this off(it instantly renables it). As such I cannot change the the folder FFXIV uses in game, because all folders are check marked as being Read Only.

Take the screenshot, open something like Paint, Press ctrl+v, save. That Is how i do since 2.0

That is a workaround that I have used, but it's clunky, cumbersome and shouldn't be necessary. Hence posting here in search of a proper solution.

Add an AV exception to whatever third party software you are using that is hooking to the game process. GShade, Reshade etc. are already easy culprits.

I am not using GShade, Reshade or anything of that type. I run the game purely without any third party software hooking into it.

[MilkieTea]

You … might want to actually look into using GShade.

You can even turn off all the effects if you don’t like the effects, and simply set a keybind for screenshots and it’ll go into whatever folder you choose. This way you can save screenshots without worrying about Win10 being dumb.

It doesn’t hook into the game or anything - it kinda sits on top if that makes sense? Does not interact with any of the game files, and Squeenix literally does not care if you use it.

[Ellvar]

You … might want to actually look into using GShade.

You can even turn off all the effects if you don’t like the effects, and simply set a keybind for screenshots and it’ll go into whatever folder you choose. This way you can save screenshots without worrying about Win10 being dumb.

It doesn’t hook into the game or anything - it kinda sits on top if that makes sense? Does not interact with any of the game files, and Squeenix literally does not care if you use it.

Hm, might be worth giving it a look then, thanks!