How to Disable Auto-Save in Word and Excel

What is AutoSave in Word/Excel?

Recently, Microsoft turned on the AutoSave feature by default. This feature is available when you save a file to Microsoft OneDrive or SharePoint in Microsoft 365. AutoSave can be useful because there might be times when you want to make changes to a file without saving it. However, there's an issue – any changes you make get automatically saved, which means that the original document gets overwritten, even if you don't want it to. So, we'll show you how to turn this feature off.

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Part 1: How to Disable Auto-Save in Word/Excel on Windows

If you're using Windows 10/8.1/8/7, you can disable the auto-save feature in Word/Excel by following these steps:

Step 1: Open an Office 365 program, such as Word, Excel, or PowerPoint, and click “File.”

Step 2: From the left navigation pane, choose Options.

Step 3: In the Options window, select Save from the left navigation pane.

Step 4. Clear the check box for Save new files to OneDrive – SharePoint Online by default.

Part 2: How to Disable Auto-Save for Word/Excel on macOS

If you turn off autosave for a particular file, the app will remember not to autosave it every time you open it again. The process for turning off autosave might be a little different on a Mac.

Step 1: Open Excel or Word or any Office program, and then (in our example) click on the Excel tab at the top of the screen.

Step 2: Click “Preferences.”

Step 3: In the Preferences window, click the “Save” button at the bottom of the “Sharing & Privacy” panel.

Step 4: Deselect the option for “Turn on AutoSave by default.”

Part 3: How to Recover Lost Word/Excel Files on Computer

Microsoft Office comes with an Autosave feature that's turned on by default, serving as a good safety net for your data. By turning off the Autosave option through the steps below, you expose yourself to the risk of losing your work. However, you can use professional data recovery software like the [tools Data Recovery Wizard](/datarecoverywizardpro/) to restore deleted or lost files. This file recovery tool can help you easily [recover unsaved Word](/file-recovery/recover-lost-word-documents-in-windows-10.html), Excel, and PPT documents in just a few steps.

Follow these steps to recover lost Word or Excel files:

Step 1: Select the location of your Word file

Select the drive or specific folder where you lost your Word document, then click on the “Scan” button.

Step 2: Locate your Word document

The software will immediately start scanning all lost data from the selected drive. Once done, click on the “Documents” option from the left panel. Select the targeted Word file from the scan results and then hit “Preview.”

Step 3: Recover the deleted Word document

After the scan, select the Word file you need, and then click “Recover.” Remember to save the recovered document in a different location from the original.

Conclusions

AutoSave is a new feature available to Microsoft 365 subscribers in Excel, Word, and PowerPoint that automatically saves your files. It's recommended to keep AutoSave turned on to protect your Office data. However, there might be instances when you need to disable this option using the methods mentioned above. If you experience data loss in Office, you can also utilize the Data Recovery Wizard tool for assistance.