Change Excel Copilot AutoSave OneDrive to home directory?

Anonymous
2025-01-11T02:37:40+00:00

Hi

I wish to access Copilot in Microsoft Excel for Mac, specifically Version 16.94 (25010614).

Upon pressing the Copilot button located in the toolbar, a panel opens on the right side, displaying a message at the bottom that states, "AutoSave is turned off. I only work with files that have AutoSave turned on. Turn it on to continue." accompanied by a button labelled "Turn On AutoSave."

My AutoSave feature is already turned on.

Despite this, I click the button, and a message box appears indicating, "To turn AutoSave on and access your workbook from anywhere, upload your file." The file name field is pre-filled with my file's name. Below this, it specifies that the only option for saving or moving files is OneDrive.

I DO NOT want to use OneDrive for file storage. It is unacceptable to suggest that I must use OneDrive! I want to save my files directly on my $3,500 Apple Mac laptop, not in Microsoft's OneDrive directory!

Furthermore, I am now informed that my Microsoft 365 Annual subscription will see a 45% increase ($50 a year) for AI features that I am unable to utilise!

How can I get my Copilot-enhanced Excel files to save directly to my personal Apple Mac laptop directory?

Cheers

BMG

Microsoft 365 Insider | Excel | MacOS

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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  1. Jim G 134K Reputation points MVP
    2025-01-11T18:03:51+00:00

    Hi

    Because your inquiry is specifically about the Beta Channel build of Office I moved your question to the special Insider forum category. The Insider part of the forum is for questions and comments about beta channel builds.

    AutoSave is a versioning and backup feature that is provided by OneDrive and SharePoint servers. Because AutoSave is a service provided by online servers and works only with the file system of the remote system, it's not possible to use on files saved to other locations. Microsoft is trying to force you to use their cloud-based file system instead of Mac OS Finder or some other cloud or network service.

    You can use Copilot using Bing Search in Microsoft's Edge web browser. I haven't noticed a difference between Copilot within applications and Copilot in Edge.

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