Disable the AutoSave function in Word and Excel
What to Know
- On Windows: Click File > Options > Save and uncheck the AutoSave files stored in the Cloud box.
- On Mac: Go to Word/Excel in the toolbar menu > Preferences > Save and untick the Turn on AutoSave by default box.
AutoSave is a helpful feature in Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. It automatically saves your work as you go. But, there may be times when you want to turn this feature off, either to save storage space, prevent Office apps from saving changes without your knowledge, or for whatever reason.
In this article, I will show you how to turn off AutoSave in Microsoft Word/Excel.
The step-by-step instructions will help you disable the autosave feature and take control of your document-saving process.
Note: If you don’t want to lose any changes you make to your files, you can turn on autosave in Word and Excel. This way, you’ll allow Word or Excel to autosave your changes.
How to Turn Off AutoSave (Windows and Mac)
You can easily disable the autosave feature for an individual or all Office files to prevent it from saving changes automatically. Here’s how.
How to Turn Off AutoSave in Word (Windows)
To turn off AutoSave in Word on Windows, follow these steps:
- Open any Word document.
- Click the “File” tab in the ribbon.
- Click the “Options” button at the bottom left-hand side.
- In the “Word Options” dialog box, click “Save” from the left panel.
- Uncheck the “AutoSave files stored in the Cloud in Word” box.
- Click “OK” to close the dialog box.
- Restart Word for changes to take effect.
Tip: If you want to turn off AutoSave for an individual Word file, open that file. Click the “AutoSave” button in the top left-hand corner.
How to Turn Off AutoSave in Excel (Windows)
To turn off AutoSave in Excel on Windows, follow these steps:
- Open any Excel file.
- Click the “File” tab in the ribbon.
- Click the “Options” button at the bottom left.
- In the “Excel Options” dialog box, click “Save” from the left menu.
- Uncheck the “AutoSave files stored in the Cloud in Excel” box.
- Select “OK” to close the dialog box.
- Restart Excel for changes to take effect.
Tip: If you want to turn off AutoSave for an individual Excel workbook, open that file. Click the “AutoSave” button in the upper left corner.
Note: Turning off AutoSave will not delete any before-saved versions of your document. It will stop Word or Excel from saving periodic backups of your files as you work.
How to Turn Off Word/Excel AutoSave on macOS
The steps to turn off autosave in Office apps for Mac are pretty much the same. To disable Word/Excel AutoSave on a Mac computer, follow these steps:
- Launch an Office application (Word or Excel).
- Click (in our case) Word in the toolbar menu at the top of the screen.
- Select the “Preferences” option.
- In the Word/Excel Preferences window, select the “Save” button under “Sharing and Privacy” at the bottom.
- In the Save Options, uncheck the “Turn on AutoSave by default” box.
- Quit and Relaunch your Office app for this change to take effect.
Tip: To turn off the AutoSave feature for an individual Office file on a Mac, open that file. Toggle the “AutoSave” button at the top.
