Autosave prompt

Question

Autosave prompt

TA Strong 0

Totally complicated. Can you please fix autosave feature! It is on, it is off, it is on. I always want it on - everywhere!

Please fix this on my whole computer to always be on. The toggle does not work when opening documents on my desktop. This is so frustrating. I have never had this problem before.

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Answer 1

Bob Jones AKA CyberTaz MVP 437.8K

The AutoSave feature works only with documents saved to OneDrive/SharePoint. It is not available for documents saved anywhere else. The only thing you can do is to have a look in Word Options... I'm on a Mac so it may be somewhat different in Word for Window but there should be a Save group which includes a checkbox to Turn on AutoSave by default or similar wording.

Please see these Microsoft Support articles:

Turn on AutoSave | Microsoft Support

Turn on autosave in Microsoft 365 apps

Stefan Blom 353.8K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2026-10-05T20:13:15.91+00:00

Bob is correct. The option is called "AutoSave files stored in the Cloud by default in Word" and you should find it at the top of the File > Options > Save dialog.
TA Strong 0 Reputation points

2026-10-05T20:21:56.57+00:00

Now I have two files one on my desktop and one on Onedrive. If I open it from my desktop - no autosave. So, I have to open it in Onedrive and forget using my desktop to save my files. This is a pain. Am I missing something. Cannot Onedrive files be saved to my desktop?
Stefan Blom 353.8K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2026-10-05T20:53:35.7133333+00:00

Automatic saves only apply to OneDrive files.

What you can do is synchronize files (in certain locations) on your local drive using the OneDrive app. See https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/onedrive/sync-your-computer-s-files-and-folders-with-onedrive .
TA Strong 0 Reputation points

2026-10-05T21:23:15.8166667+00:00

The link says - "We are sorry, the page you requested cannot be found."
Craig Long 18,655 Reputation points

2026-10-05T22:14:12.01+00:00

Without the OneDrive Autosave feature, try to click the "Save" button before closing a file.

I believe you can still recover unsaved documents. Unsaved documents are kept in the AppData folder.
Stefan Blom 353.8K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2026-10-06T00:31:59.1033333+00:00

The link says - "We are sorry, the page you requested cannot be found."

Do you mean the link https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/onedrive/sync-your-computer-s-files-and-folders-with-onedrive ? It is working here. Maybe there was a temporary glitch earlier.