How to Turn Off OneDrive Autosave and Regain Control Over Your Files

You can regain control over your files by turning off OneDrive Autosave, which automatically saves your files to the cloud. OneDrive Autosave can be a blessing for some, but a curse for others, especially those with limited storage space or internet connectivity issues.

To turn off OneDrive Autosave, you'll need to access the OneDrive settings in your computer's File Explorer. This can be done by clicking on the OneDrive icon in the system tray and selecting Settings.

OneDrive Autosave can save files in the background, even if you're not actively working on them, which can lead to storage space issues. By turning it off, you'll be able to manage your files more efficiently.

To access the OneDrive settings, you'll need to navigate to the OneDrive folder in File Explorer. From there, you can right-click on the folder and select Properties.

Disabling AutoSync can be a bit tricky, but it's actually quite straightforward once you know the steps. You can stop OneDrive from syncing certain folders by adjusting the sync settings.

To do this, right-click the OneDrive icon in the system tray and select "Settings". Then, deselect the folders that you don't want to sync with OneDrive.

Files in those folders will not be uploaded into OneDrive, which is exactly what you want if you're trying to disable AutoSave.

You might need to disable AutoSync if you're experiencing slow syncing speeds or if you've accidentally synced the wrong items to OneDrive.

OneDrive will always resume syncing immediately after you pause it, so you don't have to worry about losing any data.

If the OneDrive icon is not visible, you can click the "Show hidden icons" button in the notification tray to find it.

Here are the steps to hide OneDrive:

You can prevent OneDrive from backing up folders by clicking the OneDrive icon on the taskbar, then clicking the gear icon and selecting Settings from the resulting menu.

To disable toggles for folders you don't want to be backed up to OneDrive, click the Manage backup button and disable the toggles for those folders.

If you want to stop OneDrive from auto-syncing photos, videos, screenshots, or certain folders, change some settings in the "Auto Save" tab.

Here are the specific settings to change:

You can also prevent OneDrive from backing up folders by right-clicking the OneDrive icon in the system tray, selecting Settings, and then clicking the Manage backup button.

To disable toggles for folders you don't want to be backed up to OneDrive, disable the toggles for those folders.

If you want to stop OneDrive from syncing specific folders, adjust the sync settings by right-clicking the OneDrive icon in the system tray and deselecting the folders you don't want to sync.

You can also prevent Office apps from saving files to OneDrive by opening any Office app, clicking the File menu, selecting Options, and then unchecking the "Save to Computer by default" option.

To prevent AutoSave from saving files to OneDrive, open any Office app, click the File menu, select Options, and then remove the tick from the "AutoSave OneDrive and SharePoint Online files by default" box.

If you want to disable AutoSave permanently for all files, you can add a value to the Windows registry, but be careful when editing the registry as wrong changes can have a major impact on your computer.

Alternatively, you can use the Group Policy Editor to stop Windows from saving files to OneDrive by navigating to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > OneDrive and disabling the "Save documents to OneDrive by default" policy.

You can also choose to disable OneDrive completely from here by disabling the "Prevent the usage of OneDrive for file storage" policy.

You can stop Office apps from saving files to OneDrive by changing the default save location. Open any Office app, such as Word or Excel, and click the File menu in the top left corner.

To do this, select Options from the left pane, then in the Save tab, tick the Save to Computer by default option. Specify where you want to save your Office files in the Default local file location box.

You can also turn off the AutoSave feature in Office for OneDrive by removing the tick from the AutoSave OneDrive and SharePoint Online files by default box.

Alternatively, you can stop Office apps from automatically saving by unticking the box for "AutoSave files stored in the Cloud by default in Word." Then, tick the box for "Save to Computer by default" and specify where your files should be saved on your computer.

However, if you want to disable AutoSave permanently for all files, you'll need to add a value to the Windows registry. This can be done manually or automatically by downloading and opening a file.

Here are some reasons why your documents might be saving to OneDrive by default:

You can stop Windows from saving files to OneDrive by using the Group Policy Editor. This method is available on Professional, Education, or Enterprise editions of Windows.

To access the Group Policy Editor, press Win + R to open the Run dialog box, then type gpedit.msc and press Enter.

In the Local Group Policy Editor window, navigate to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > OneDrive. Double-click the Save documents to OneDrive by default policy and select the Disabled option.

You can also choose to disable OneDrive completely from here. For that, double-click the Prevent the usage of OneDrive for file storage policy and click the Disabled radio button.

Here's a step-by-step guide to disabling OneDrive using the Group Policy Editor:

Remember to be careful when editing the Windows registry, as wrong changes can have a major impact on your computer.

Disabling AutoSave permanently for all files can be a bit tricky, but it's doable. You can't disable AutoSave from within Excel, PowerPoint, or Word, but you can add a value to the Windows registry.

Be careful, though - editing the registry can have major consequences if you make a mistake. To avoid this, you can either do it manually or download a file that will do it for you.

There are two ways to set the correct value in the registry. You can do it manually, which requires some technical know-how, or you can download a file that will do it for you.