Have you ever encountered the error message saying “It looks like you don't have permission to view this file” or “It looks like you don't have permission to save changes to this file” when you try to edit or save a picture? Read this post from MiniTool to get useful fixes.
The “It looks like you don’t have permission to view this file” error usually appears when you try to edit or save an image file in Windows. Typically, blocked images, incorrect permission settings, a corrupted Windows Photos application, incorrect User Account Control settings, etc. can cause this error.
Now, follow the ways below to get rid of this error.
How to Fix You Don’t Have Permission to View This File Windows 11/10
Fix 1. Unblock the Picture
Files that come from another computer might be blocked to protect your computer. So, when you try to edit a picture located in another drive, you may receive the no permission issue. In this scenario, follow the steps below to unblock the picture.
Step 1. Right-click the target picture to select Properties.
Step 2. Check the option of Unblock next to This file came from another computer and might be blocked to help protect this computer. And, uncheck the Read-only option, as shown in the figure below.

Step 3. Click Apply and OK sequentially to make this change take effect.
After that, try to edit your picture and check if the error message appears again.
Fix 2. Run Photos As Administrator
Running the Photos app or other image editor as administrator is another useful solution to the “you don’t have permission to view this file Windows 11/10” issue. For this, you can follow the guide below.
Step 1. Type the name of the photo editor like Paint in the Windows search box.
Step 2. Right-click the Paint icon to select Run as administrator.
Step 3. In the UAC window, click Yes.
Fix 3. Get Full Control Permission and Take Ownership of the Picture
As the error message suggests, insufficient permission can be responsible for the problem. In this case, follow the instructions below to grant full control permission and take ownership of the image file.
Step 1. Right-click the problematic picture to select Properties.
Step 2. Move on to the Security tab, select the corresponding user that you want to assign permission to from the list, and click Edit. Next, in the new window, make sure the Allow box next to Full Control is checked.

Step 3. Click Apply and then OK to save this change.
Step 4. In the picture Properties window, click Advanced under the Security section.

Step 5. Click the Change button next to the current owner. In the pop-up window, type the target user name in the input box and click Check Names. Once Windows recognizes and fills in the correct username, click OK.

Step 6. In the Advanced Security Settings window, click OK.
Having the ownership changed, you can open and edit the picture again to see if the error message persists.
Fix 4. Reset the Photos App
If the Microsoft Photos application is corrupted, you may receive the “It looks like you don’t have permission to view this file” error. To fix it, you can reset the Microsoft Photos app.
Step 1. Press Windows + I key combination to open Settings. Then click Apps.
Step 2. In the Apps & Features tab, scroll down to click Microsoft Photos and Advanced options sequentially.
Step 3. In the new window, click the Reset button to reset Photos.

Fix 5. Disable User Account Control
According to user experience, disabling the User Account Control feature is also an effective way to get rid of the no permission issue. To achieve this goal, you can refer to this post: How to Disable UAC in Windows 10? Here Are Four Simple Ways!
Further Reading
Though the troubleshooting steps above will not cause picture loss generally, your photos may get lost due to various reasons, such as accidental deletion, virus attack, OS crash, and more. Here, the best free data recovery software – MiniTool Power Data Recovery, is introduced to help you recover deleted photos.
MiniTool Power Data Recovery not only can help to recover pictures but also excels at recovering the missing Pictures folder. Besides, Office files, videos, audio, emails, and other types of files are supported to recover as well.
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Wrapping Things Up
This article shows you how to deal with the error message “It looks like you don’t have permission to view this file”. Hope you can access, edit, and save your images successfully by trying the ways mentioned above.
If you have any questions about this trouble or MiniTool Power Data Recovery, please feel free to let us know by leaving your comments below.