Why Is Saving Paused in Canva? How To Fix

You’re happily working away on a Canva project when suddenly you see that saving has “paused.” It’s a nightmare situation for any user, and many people have lost hours of hard work because of this very issue. Fortunately, there are several techniques to get around it.

This guide will explain why saving might pause on Canva and some ways to fix it.

Reasons Why Saving Pauses in Canva

The “Saving paused” error message is quite self-explanatory. It means that Canva has temporarily stopped saving your work, and any changes or progress you make won’t be logged on the system’s servers.

So, if you close down the tab and then open Canva back up later, you’ll see that many of your updates have vanished. It’s a big issue, especially for people using Canva for important work projects or personal creations.

There are various reasons why it can happen:

Lost Internet Connection

Canva needs to be connected to your device to save any changes you make. So, if that connection gets interrupted somehow, the saving process will stop working. A lost or interrupted connection is one of the most common explanations behind the “Saving paused” problem.

Unfortunately, internet connections aren’t always as steady and stable as people wish. Issues with your internet router, internet service provider (ISP), or device can all impact the connection, causing temporary outages.

Slow or Busy Connection

Even if you have an active internet connection, Canva’s saving feature might still have problems. This can occur if the connection is slow or excessively busy, with lots of bandwidth used by apps and other websites.

For example, if you have dozens of internet tabs all open at once, that’ll eat into your bandwidth and make your internet slower. Or, if several other devices are connected to the home’s router and doing things like downloading, streaming, and so on, this could impact your Canva project.

Problems With Canva’s Servers

There are also cases where Canva pauses saving because of an issue on its end rather than yours. Even though Canva has good, quality servers and can usually support many users, it’s not immune to internet issues. The Canva servers may go down from time to time, which can interfere with saving.

A Very Large or Complicated Design

Some users have also encountered saving difficulties when working on quite large or complex Canva projects. For example, if you’re working on a design with many layers or high-resolution images, it can take much longer to save. In some cases, saving will stop working entirely.

How to Fix the “Saving Paused” Error

There are multiple reasons why Canva pauses saving. Thankfully, users can also try plenty of troubleshooting techniques to get it working once more.

Check Your Internet Connection

Internet disruption is a very common culprit behind Canva’s “Saving paused” issue. So, if you see that error message, the first thing to do is check your internet connection. Check the Wi-Fi symbol on your computer or mobile device to see if you’re connected. Or just try opening another website in a new tab.

If the internet has gone down, you can take a couple more steps. Resetting the router is one way to start, which might restore the connection. You can also contact your ISP, let them know about the problem, and see if they can fix it.

Close Other Tabs and Apps

Your internet might be working, but it could be running super slowly if you’re pushing it too hard. If there are lots of tabs open, big files downloading, or other people streaming music and movies in the home, the connection may struggle to keep up. Closing some tabs and apps could give you the extra bandwidth you need to reconnect with Canva and save your work.

Clear the Cache

If you’re on the Canva mobile app, this tip won’t work. But if you’re working in Canva on a web browser, like Chrome or Firefox, you could try clearing out the cache. Sometimes, this resolves random website issues. Here’s how to do it for Chrome users:

1. Click on the three little dots in the top right.
   
2. Go to “History,” then click on “Clear Browsing Data.”
   
3. Set the desired time range and make sure the boxes for “Cookies and other site data” and “Cached images and files” are checked.
   
4. Press “Clear Data.”
   

And here’s the same basic process for Firefox fans:

1. Click on the three lines in the top right.
   
2. Select “History,” then “Clear Recent History.”
   
3. Set the time range (it’s best to set it to “Everything” in this case) and tick the boxes for “Cookies” and “Cache.”
   

Try a Manual Save

Manual saving almost seems like a thing of the past these days, as so many apps and programs simply auto-save every few seconds. However, the classic manual save is a feature in Canva. And, if auto-saving stops working, a manual save might be the solution to the problem.

1. Head to the “File” menu at the top of the screen.
   
2. In the drop-down list, find and click on “Save.”
   

Copy and Paste Your Work to a New Tab

If manual saves won’t work and there seems to be nothing you can do to improve your internet, you can always fall back on the “copy and paste” method. This technique has helped many users protect their work from being lost when Canva’s saving stops working.

It’ll take some time and effort, but it might be the only way to avoid losing hours of progress.

• Keep your “Saving paused” tab open, but open another new tab and head to Canva on it.
• Find the latest saved version of your project and open it up.
• Compare the two versions to see what changes are missing.
• Copy and paste the missing content from the “Saving paused” tab to your new tab.

If this works, you should see the “All changes saved” message on your new tab.

Wait It Out

In some cases, patience is all you need to resolve the paused save problem. If you wait a little while for Canva’s servers to catch up or your internet to settle, the issue might fix itself. This is especially true when the problem is on Canva’s end, as they’ll be working hard to resolve any issues they encounter.

Just remember to leave your Canva tab or app open while you wait. If you accidentally close it down, the work you did will be lost. But, by leaving it open, you’ve got a good chance of keeping it when the system eventually starts working.

FAQs

How can I prevent the saving paused error in Canva?

There’s no surefire way to avoid this error completely 100% of the time. But there are a few steps you can take to minimize the risks. For instance, try not to push your internet too hard with lots of downloading and streaming at the same time as using Canva. And make sure to regularly update your Canva app and browser to the latest versions.

Solve Saving Issues in Canva

Canva works quite well most of the time, but it’s not without its flaws. The saving issue happens to many users and can wipe out hours of hard work in an instant. It’s a real pain to deal with, but there are ways to get around, as this guide shows. So, the next time you see that pesky “pause” message, try some of the methods above to avoid losing your work.

Have you had issues with this saving problem on Canva? Do you know any other ways to fix it? Let everyone know in the comments section.