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The "Save As" menu option is hidden in macOS Mojave. Apple would prefer you "Duplicate" the file to make changes. That may be more intuitive for new users, but it's confusing if you're used to "Save As."

"Save As" Is Still There

This option never left the file menu---it's just hidden behind the Option key. In fact, Apple hides quite a few menu items behind the Option key without any visual notice. Try opening up the Apple menu and holding down the Option key. You'll see many of the menu options change into different, related options. For example, "About This Mac" becomes "System Information."

Hidden Option Key Menus

Related: Access Hidden Options and Information With Your Mac's Option Key

This helps keep the menu clean but makes it difficult to find these options. Some people will think "Save As" has been completely removed---but it's still there!

You can still use "Save As" by either:

  • Holding down Option while you have the file menu open (which will change "Duplicate" into "Save As"), or
  • Pressing Command+Shift+Option+S directly (the shortcut for "Save," plus the Option and Shift keys)

Both options are a bit cumbersome, but the functionality is still there:

Save As shortcut

However, Command+Shift+Option+S isn't the shortcut you might be used to. It's been changed from Command+Shift+S, which has been reassigned to "Duplicate." A four-key shortcut is a little long for such a useful feature, but luckily we can make it easier by hacking it back into the File menu.

How to Get the Keyboard Shortcut and Menu Item Back

If you keep accidentally duplicating the file by hitting the old "Save As" keyboard shortcut, you can change it back manually in macOS's Keyboard settings. Head to Apple menu > System Preferences > Keyboard and click the "Shortcuts" tab.

Keyboard preferences app shortcuts pane

Click "App Shortcuts" at the bottom of the list in the left pane. This is for adding overriding shortcuts for menu items, which is exactly what we want. Click the "+" button at the bottom to add a new shortcut.

Next, ensure your new shortcut is set to "All Applications" so it's a system-wide change. Type "Save As..." into the "Menu Title" box. This needs to be exact, capitalized, and with three periods at the end, otherwise, it will not work.

Finally, click the "Keyboard Shortcut" box and press the old shortcut, Command-Shift-S. Alternatively, you can enter any other keyboard shortcut you'd prefer to use for this action. Click the "Add" button, and you're done.

Keyboard preferences add new app shortcut

Keep in mind that this overrides the default system shortcuts. If you provide a keyboard shortcut that's typically used for something else, your Mac will disable the old shortcut in favor of the new one you added. That's why this overrides the "Duplicate" shortcut. However, you can still duplicate files by clicking the item in the menu bar---this just disables the keyboard shortcut. If you'd like to set a new shortcut for "Duplicate," you can create one from this screen in the same way you created the "Save As" shortcut.

You will now see "Save As..." back in the menu below "Save," complete with the same old shortcut. This only applies in apps that have a "Save As" feature. If you don't see "Save As" in an application's menu and it does appear when you hold down the Option key, you probably mistyped "Save As..." while creating the shortcut. Go back and double-check---it must be exact.