The AutoSave feature in Excel saves your file automatically every few seconds as you work. The feature is the latest addition to Microsoft Office 365. For the feature to work effectively, you need constant internet connectivity. The feature comes in handy when you are using your computer as a desktop or without a battery such that any typed work can instantly be saved. Despite this, you can find it unexpected and even annoying when every little change to the document is automatically saved,
So, in the article below, we discuss how to turn off Excel’s AutoSave feature.
Method 1
There are two types of AutoSave features in Excel. One needs constant internet connectivity to work, while the other, more traditional feature works for auto recovery.
To turn off the auto-save feature, click on the AutoSave button that is in the upper-left corner of your open worksheet window to turn it off.
Method 2
1. In an open Excel worksheet, click on the File tab on the main menu ribbon.
2. In the displayed menu card on the left pane, click on Options to select it and display a dialog window. It is at the very bottom of the left-side menu pane.
3. In the displayed Excel Options dialog window, click on the option Save, which is in the left side box.
4. Under the Save workbooks section, uncheck the checkbox next to the Save Auto Recover information every 1 minute(s) In Microsoft 365, the checkbox to uncheck will be Autosave OneDrive and SharePoint Online files by default.
5. Next to the option to save files in this format, choose the format of the saved file.
6. Lastly, press the OK
After disabling the auto-save feature in Excel, your documents will instantly default to Autosave off. You will need to turn this setting off in every Microsoft Office 365 program when you do not want Autosave turned on.
If you would want to see the version history of your Excel worksheet, click on the file name, then Version History, above the ribbon of your worksheet.
For other Microsoft Excel versions, every time you open an Excel file, the AutoSave feature will be, by default, off. So, if you want to save your work every time you are working #, you will have to turn back this feature using the steps above.
Note:
The wording to uncheck to turn off the auto-save feature may differ slightly based on the Excel version you are using.
Method 3: How to disable Autosave in Excel on macOS
When you turn off the AutoSave button of an individual file in Windows, the application will always remember to keep it off every time you reopen that particular file. But this is usually not the case with Mac. To disable Autosave on Mac, here is what to do:
1. Open your Microsoft Excel program.
2. In the toolbar on top of your screen, click on the Preferences option to display a dialog box.
3. In the Preferences dialog box, under the Sharing and Privacy section, click on the Save
4. Lastly, uncheck or unselect the option Turn on AutoSave by default.
