Disable the new AutoSave by default, as it can lead to a loss of data
The new AutoSave can potentially lead to a loss of data. If you open any Word, PowerPoint, etc. doc, there is an "AutoSave" that is automatically on, on the upper left. If you're changing some stuff around and don't want to save, it still saves it. Or if you delete some things and then save as copy, your original is gone, because AutoSave was on. This is a horrible feature and should be disabled by default.
Version 1705 (Build 8117.1000 Click-to-Run)
Office Insider Fast
Charlie Chen
shared this idea
362 comments
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Anonymous
commented
I think I figured out how to turn autosave off. Open Word and go to >File >Options >Save and unclick "Autosave OneDrive and SharePoint files by default on Word". When I did that, my Autosave toggle in the command ribbon shows "off" and turned grey (I cannot click it to toggle it on). Then I removed it from the ribbon. Hope this works, and helps!
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David Eccles
commented
Stop Trying to be Google Docs. You spent nearly 30 years training users to user Save As. Now you are undoing it in one release, without any major tweak to the UI interface.
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Marc Fletcher
commented
Auto save destroys the user's ability to try something in a file, save it if they like it, or discard it if they don't. Auto save makes the assumption that content creation is a linear process. It's not. Please keep auto save off by default.
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Michael Flynn
commented
Horrible horrible idea - put the feature in by all means and then if I am working on a document and want it to auto-save I can turn it on - I despair of Microsoft sometimes it's as if you have been infiltrated by a bunch of open office folks who are intent and destroying you - you were once so good - sad to see
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Anonymous
commented
There actually already is a way to disable this feature! I could only find a German tutorial, but I'll try to explain shortly what you have to do. https://excelblog.ch/excelblog/automatisches-speichern-in-office-365-deaktivieren/
Press WINDOWS-KEY+R to open the Run dialog box. Enter regedit and press OK to open the registry editor. Open "HKEY_CURRENT_USER" → "Software" → "Microsoft" → "Office" → "16.0" → "Excel" (Note: Don't forget to go down into the "16.0" folder). Create a new D-Word (32 bit) using right-klick, name it DontAutoSave and assign a value of 1 to it (right click -> edit). You then can repeat this for Word/PowerPoint/whatever instead of Excel and when you restart the respective program the next time, autosave should be disabled :)Hope I could help - this feature is really annoying!
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Anonymous
commented
I absolutely loathe this feature (if you can call it that). And for all those people saying you simply upload the previous version - I have tried it - it DOES NOT WORK!!
This so called feature causes me so much stress and rework that it is unbelievable. There should be an easy way to switch it off
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Nathan Berger
commented
This is not a good suggestion, and not representative of the whole. AutoSave is a great feature, and no data is lost given Versioning History is enabled by default for any file that uses AutoSave, as it is stored on OneDrive. Please disregard this suggestion.
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Arnout Nederpelt
commented
Please set it to disabled by default - unless explicitly enabled by the user
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DWellser
commented
MS should be embarrassed for thinking 'Mandatory Autosave' was a desired feature by its users -- then finding out the majority of users feel it is a nightmare --- and MS not doing anything about it. PLEASE GET IT OFF IMMEDIATELY and return the backup of the files as it was before this terrible feature was added.
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Anonymous
commented
Everyone here needs to be educated on version history. Autosave has version history which is extremely easy to use. Nothing is lost. Educate yourself and your users on this feature and it will greatly improve your experience. Autosave should absolutely stay.
Everybody needs to understand they have eliminated that dreaded "where is my work, I forgot to save" panic moment. I realize that people need to change their work habits a little bit. Between version history and Save As Copy, there's not a single reason turn off autosave - ever!
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Austin Sloan
commented
If Autosave is on and saves over something you wanted, you can go back to an earlier version.
Click File > Info and select View and restore previous versions.
Click a version to open.
Click Restore if you find the version you want.
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Adri Fijneman
commented
I fully agree with Charlie, it already caused problems for me and my colleagues. Or, at least after a 'Save as' the originally opened document should remain the same. It has taken hours already to repare original documents.
So, I vote for either a default, to be set for office as a whole, like date/time/language etc., or default 'No'. -
Anonymous
commented
@ MS,
Get rid of this non-feature NOW! And I'm not even going ask nicely.
I recently lost the minute of an important meeting without understanding why. Now I do.
My company should sue you for damages! -
Anonymous
commented
This is a problem. There are times I just want to view old files - whether it is school, business or other people’s attachments and sometimes share back with others. I don't want to tamper with the file, the file date, or convert to a current version of office. I don't want my name(username) appended or overwriting the last user, the creator, or original owner. Especially in an academic environment, I do not own other people’s sources when it comes to compiling research. Changing meta data and dates also triggers (which I don't want) my 'OneDrive' and 'Backup and Sync' from Google to do a sync. "Hey, this kid is dabbling with his files again. Let's sync for him"
This also looks bad on my part when I turn in computer assignments. My teachers are smart enough to look at the creator, if file was made on personal computer or at the computer lab, and when it was last saved, especially where there is a dispute over meeting deadlines and when it was last saved.
Also, I had a **** of time during the Office 365 installation a proxy. It would never activate. The same goes for having the program Sign-In, syncing with Office 365 online, and checking the device's license status, download fonts or other Office Internet related features.
I have had Office 365 installed for less than a week and it has only crashed on me three times when it was trying to find a location to save. I’m glad it was just notes and not assignments. I was surprised I did not have an Auto-Recovery file to fall back on, when I reopened the software.
So I found out, I must first save files to other local folder locations not identified by Office as syncing with Office 365 online. Second, exit the program. Third, move files and folders back to My Documents. If I need access to the files elsewhere, I had to Install OneDrive and make the sync folder a different location. Then fourth, move the file to this location. Office 365 Online does not like me choosing my new local OneDrive location as a place to save, however it does not complain about Google. So I must manually move files if I want OneDrive. As a homage to Sneakernet I coin this workflow Officenet. This is the only way I can get this software to properly work.
Excel is saying, “Okay use this software, but don’t save here! No, don’t save there! I’m watching these folders, I know when you’re going to try to save here. I’m not letting you move these spreadsheets while I’m sitting here. When I’m not sitting here you can do whatever, but if I’m back… you can bet I’m keeping an eye on these folders… and you.”
I am sure I have less than 30-days to use Office 365 offline before I have to lug a 75lb gaming rig somewhere with proxy-free public Internet access.
For now, I cannot follow this Office 365 college class labs verbatim and can only hope how fun midterms and finals will be. -
Anonymous
commented
This is a very dangerous feature. I want to decide when I save a file, not rely on AutoSave. Don't get me wrong, I've had instances where the AutoSave has come in handy e.g. computer has crashed but I've been able to access a recent copy of the file I was working on and haven't lost such a big amount of data. This is because it's been running in the background and that was fine. I'm now safely into the habit of saving before I exit a file. However it's now saying the upload was unsuccessful so I'm now having to do a 'Save As' and save over the current file, just in case the last Auto-Save didn't capture the data I put in 30 seconds ago. This example applies to an excel spreadsheet. This is a whole bunch of extra clicks and checking I'm saving over the correct file when I could just click 'Save' because I WANT to SAVE.
However, in Word, I use a different system where I write over last month's document and create a new one for this month with a new name. But with this AutoSave thingy, it means it will save the current document with the new data, possibly before I get a chance to rename it and writes over the last version which I want to be preserved. (Say the phone rings or I'm distracted by something going on). I appreciate you're offering the option of getting to the version history but that's even more faffing about!
This is bonkers Microsoft - why are you playing with these things!? As others have said, people have been doing things a certain way for decades - why are you taking the choice away and making it so we can't switch new things on/off!? We're paying for Office 365 so we should have the CHOICE and not be forced into a corner. Having to spend extra time on this is not cost effective and just adds to the frustration of 'yet another MS change that doesn't make sense'.
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Kaiser
commented
You can turn-off AutoSave from the File --> Options --> Save.
If you accidentally overwrite some data you did not want saved, if it's saved in OneDrive or SharePoint, you can recover the data by opening the containing folder online, and use the little chevron to the right hand side of the filename to restore an older version.
What is missing/should be corrected is that the AutoSave toggle icon is not present to the top-left of the toolbar on Windows 10. Interestingly enough, that toggle works fine for Mac OS. This has been a known bug for MS Office365 on Windows 10 since at least late 2017.
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Jagan
commented
this option making work more delay, let us know how to deactivate the the option
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Ryan Helmer
commented
Please, at least offer some administrative control to *hide* the AutoSave button. The controls exist to turn AutoSave off--but only by default. Users see it and turn it on without understanding the implications.
Perhaps it is a training issue, but you can't instantly train your entire user base with permanent commitment to memory, against habits they've had for years/decades.
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Admin User
commented
It helps when people know what they are doing.Some people scream bcs they failed to manually save their document and in turn lost two days of work (?!?!?!?), others complain that the document was saved even though "they didn't intend to save it". Well, if you don't want to kill a file, then don't mess with it and create a new file. Or save it as a new file before you start messing with it. And always have good backups.
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Anonymous
commented
Autosave should be removed