There are two ways to save images in GIMP: in GIMP's own format (.xcf), or in a format other programs can open (such as JPG, PNG, GIF, WebP, etc.).
GIMP's Own Format
If you created an image in GIMP with multiple layers, text, masks, and so on, and you want to save this project so you can edit it later, you need to save it in GIMP's own format, which has the file extension .xcf. GIMP calls this a "GIMP XCF image."
To do this, click on File -> Save, or File -> Save as..., or File -> Save a copy in the menubar. Navigate to the folder where you want to save the file, type the filename in the filename field, and click the "Save" button.
Export as JPG, PNG, GIF, WebP, etc.
If you want your image to be usable in other programs, you need to export it as a common format, such as JPG, PNG, GIF, WebP, etc.
To do this, click on File -> Export As... in the menubar. It has be Export As, the Save options won't work.
This will display a similar dialog box where you choose where to export the file. However, if you use this dialog as you normally would, you'll get an error that reads "The given filename does not have any known file extension." That's because you need to specify the file extension of the format you want to export as.
If you are a Windows user, this may sound weird to you because file extensions are hidden by default on Windows.
In order to save an image as JPG, for example, you need to type the extension .jpg. So if you wanted to save the file with the name photo, you need to type photo.jpg instead of just photo.
The same process works for other file types: type photo.png to save in the PNG format, photo.webp to save in the WebP format, or photo.gif to export in the GIF format (it's possible to export animated GIFs in GIMP, but this is kind of troublesome, and it's easier to make them in Krita instead).
After you type a valid filename with extension, click on the "Export" button. This won't save the file yet, it will show you another dialog so you can configure how you want to export the file.
For JPG and WebP, which can be lossy formats, you'll be able to change the quality of the image, for example.
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