Disabling Autosave in Word or Excel

Disabling Autosave for an Individual File

1. Open the document
   
1. Launch Word or Excel and open the shared document you want to disable Autosave on
   
2. Toggle the Autosave switch (upper left corner of the program) from "On" to "Off"
   
3. Close and reopen
   
1. Close the document and reopen it to ensure the changes take effect
   
4. If you change your mind for this document later, just reverse the toggle back to "On"
   

This will only disable Autosave for the specific file. You'll need to repeat these steps for each document.

Disabling Autosave by Default

While it's possible to disable Autosave for individual files, COMPLETELY DISABLING IT FOR ALL DOCUMENTS MIGHT NOT BE IDEAL.

Autosave can be a safety net, preventing accidental data loss.

1. Open Word or Excel
2. Access Save options
   
1. Click on "File" -> "Options" -> "Save"
   
   
3. Disable default Autosave
   
1. Uncheck the box labeled "AutoSave OneDrive and SharePoint Online files by default"
   
4. Close and reopen
   
1. Close the application and reopen it to apply the changes
   
2. Changes will not be applied until the program has been closed and reopened
   

Alternative Considerations

Increase AutoSave interval

Instead of disabling Autosave entirely, consider increasing the time between automatic saves to reduce interruptions while maintaining a safety net.

1. Access the Save options as shown in screen shots for Disabling AutoSave by Default above
   
2. Modify the AutoRecover interval by clicking the up or down arrow accordingly
   

Utilize Version History

Microsoft 365 offers version history, allowing you to revert to previous versions of your document in case of accidental changes.

1. Open the file you want to view
2. Click the file name at the top of the screen
   
3. Click on Version History
   
1. This will bring up a new window with the available saved versions of the document
   

Utilize Templates instead of Documents (Recommended)

See the Creating and Using a Template in Office 365 knowledge base article for full details on how to create a Word Template.

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