this post was submitted on 13 May 2025
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Weird, it’s been at least a decade since I encountered a Microsoft product that wasn’t actively getting worse.
You must not use many. The many Microsoft programs I use every day have only gotten better over time - windows, SQL management studio, visual studio, visual studio code, windows terminal, WSL, Azure storage explorer, To Do, Office, and even the much maligned Teams has improved significantly.
How so? I’ve used multiple office products every day at work for the last 20 years and have only noticed them getting better and better. If I could have any version of any of them to use right now it would be the current ones.
Microsoft Word literally removed the ability to autosave. Your document is no longer automatically saved as you type, unless you pay for cloud backup. This would be hilarious if it weren’t so unbelievably dumb.
Is that true? I can't really confirm that one myself as everywhere I use Word it is logged in with a license.
I’m a professional writer who uses Word (I’m inured to its bullshit). Autosave does not work on local storage or iCloud — only Microsoft OneDrive. It’s unbelievably frustrating and I’ve developed the subconscious habit of spamming Cmd+S after every sentence or two. Funny enough autosave still works on iOS.
Edit: I do pay for the Office suite, and I remember when they made this change. They also disabled a few other features I’m too lazy to enumerate, but it’s things like ReadAloud, changing file names while on a cloud backup that isn’t OneDrive (disabled about a year ago), dumb stuff like that.
If what I'm reading in Microsofts support forums are correct, there was never an auto-save-to-local function in Word though. There was the auto-recover, but that's not the same and I believe still exists.
Auto-save seems to have been added as a onedrive-only feature, which is fair enough.
https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/msoffice/forum/all/how-to-autosave-local-to-pc-instead-of-to-onedrive/8631fa3c-3af4-49f7-8f83-b80c3f3389e8
I was using it for years and they literally have an autosave feature on iOS right now. You can stop typing and force-close the app and it’ll save it to your iCloud (not OneDrive) flawlessly.
Funny enough I’m familiar with the thread you linked because when they disabled AutoSave I searched for ages to figure out how to re-enable it. That thread is bullshit.
Ok so it's on iOS, but has it ever been on the desktop versions and then removed?
https://www.reddit.com/r/Office365/comments/klxgs7/is_there_anyway_to_auto_save_without_onedrive/
You can also apparenlty change auto-recover to be every 1 minute. Seems like Auto-Save has never been offered outside of OneDrive on desktop.
It was removed from the MacOS version, yes. I’ve been using Microsoft Word since 2004.
Edit: also think about what you’re saying: they “added” autosave (why didn’t they already have the single most obvious feature in a word processing app?) but they don’t let you autosave unless you put your files only on OneDrive — not locally. Think about how bizarre and shitty that is… and that’s for paying customers.
I haven't seen any evidence of it ever working outside of OneDrive. I've been using Word since it came out.
Yes, they added a feature for paying customers. That's not "bizarre and shitty". That's pretty much the industry standard. Paying users get more and better features.
Ok well you're clearly not to be taken seriously on issues like this.
I have had a paid Office subscription and used OneDrive since it was SkyDrive, so I honestly couldn't tell you from personal experience - which is why I'm using google and also asking any and all AIs I have access to. I have found zero evidence of AutoSave being added and working with local save files. AutoRecover yes, AutoSave no.
I'm happy to be proven wrong though, so feel free to provide some links showing that it did.
Such a badarse you are. I'm quivering in fear.
They haven't removed saving your files locally though.
You just spent pages defending Microsoft for having no autosave feature on a word processor. Maybe time to re-evaluate your life choices.
Do you not see the irony in that?
You just spent pages attacking Microsoft for allegedly removing something that never existed. Maybe it’s time for you to re-evaluate.
By your lack of sources backing up your claims that they previously had auto-save to your local device, and your out-of-nowhere shift to personal attacks, I think it’s safe to assume that you realised you remembered incorrectly.
You STILL believe that a decades old word processing app would let you type for hours without periodically saving your work? Are you actually insane?
EDIT: You know what, never mind. Your corporate shilling has convinced me — Microsoft Word isn’t getting shittier. Being the only word processor on the planet with no autosave feature makes perfect sense. Amazing conclusion.
SHOW ME SOME EVIDENCE THAT IT HAD AUTOSAVE TO YOUR LOCAL DEVICE.
Again - it has autorecover which essentially does the same thing to a degree, but no I have not been able to find a single source saying it ever had autosave to local. I don’t remember any other version having it.
Your point was that they REMOVED AUTOSAVE TO YOUR LOCAL STORAGE, not that they never had it. Will you admit that you were wrong about that?