# Error with read\_ica Function
**URL:** https://mne.discourse.group/t/error-with-read-ica-function/5231
**Category:** Support & Discussions
**Tags:** preprocessing, eeg, ica
**Created:** [July 6, 2022, 8:15pm UTC](https://mne.discourse.group/t/error-with-read-ica-function/5231 "2022-07-06T20:15:26Z")
**Posts on this page:** 5
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@lmctx13](https://mne.discourse.group/u/lmctx13)
#### Post date: [July 6, 2022, 8:15pm UTC](https://mne.discourse.group/t/error-with-read-ica-function/5231/1 "2022-07-06T20:15:26Z")
Hi everyone, I am using ICA on my EEG data, and I have been attempting the read\_ica function on my ICA fif file. However, I am receiving this error message: “Could not find ICA data.”
I looked up the source code, and I found where the error originated from. However, I am not sure how to fix it. I would love to hear suggestions!
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### Author:  [@richard](https://mne.discourse.group/u/richard)
#### Post date: [July 6, 2022, 8:50pm UTC](https://mne.discourse.group/t/error-with-read-ica-function/5231/2 "2022-07-06T20:50:42Z")
Hello @lmctx13,
we’ll need much more information here: which version of MNE-Python are you using, how did you create the “ICA fif file”, how are you trying to read it.
Thanks,
Richard
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### Author:  [@lmctx13](https://mne.discourse.group/u/lmctx13)
#### Post date: [July 8, 2022, 2:27pm UTC](https://mne.discourse.group/t/error-with-read-ica-function/5231/3 "2022-07-08T14:27:06Z")
Hi Richard,
1. I am using version 1.0.3 of MNE.
2. As for creating the ICA fif file, I applied ICA to my EEG data (with ica.apply(), which returns a Raw object in this case) and saved the Raw object to an ICA fif file (using raw.save()).
3. I am attempting to use the read\_ica method to read the ICA fif file (which ends with the -ica.fif extension).
I hope this helps. Let me know if you need any more information!
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### Author:  [@richard](https://mne.discourse.group/u/richard)
#### Post date: [July 8, 2022, 3:45pm UTC](https://mne.discourse.group/t/error-with-read-ica-function/5231/4 "2022-07-08T15:45:22Z")
Hello @lmctx13,
after applying ICA to raw data via `ica.apply(raw)`, what you get back is still raw data, but now cleaned thanks to ICA. When you then call `raw.save()`, again, you’re saving raw data. Of course, this file cannot be loaded via `read_ica()`.
Best wishes,
Richard
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### Author:  [@lmctx13](https://mne.discourse.group/u/lmctx13)
#### Post date: [July 8, 2022, 10:35pm UTC](https://mne.discourse.group/t/error-with-read-ica-function/5231/5 "2022-07-08T22:35:18Z")
Hi Richard,
Thank you for your help and for letting me know. I used ica.save() instead, and that worked for me!