Change Excel Copilot AutoSave OneDrive to home directory?

Question

Change Excel Copilot AutoSave OneDrive to home directory?

Anonymous

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

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.

0 comments

6 answers

Answer 1

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.

Answer 2

Hi Jim,

Thank you for moving my post to the Insider forum and for your fast response. However, my main concern wasn’t addressed.

I specifically want to use Copilot within Microsoft Excel on my Mac without being forced to save my files in OneDrive. As mentioned, when I press the Copilot button in the toolbar, it brings up a panel that insists AutoSave is off, even though AutoSave is already on, and I can save my files locally on my laptop. I understand that currently, the system prefers or requires files to be saved to OneDrive to enable Copilot, but this defeats my need to save files locally.

The suggestion to use Copilot via Edge doesn't apply here since I'm already able to access Copilot within Excel—it's just the storage requirement that’s the issue.

Do you know any upcoming updates or solutions to enable Copilot features with locally stored files, or if there is a way to address this discrepancy between my AutoSave status and Copilot's requirements?

I appreciate any insights you might offer.

BMG

Answer 3

Microsoft is using Copilot to coerce users to using OneDrive so that users will buy additional storage. That's a marketing decision.

You can use the Menu Bar in Excel and choose Help > Feedback > I Have a Suggestion to let Microsoft know you'd like to be able to use a storage device of your choosing along with Copilot. That would reduce revenue for Microsoft. I think unless you can think of a way combining local storage with Copilot as an extra cost add-on, your suggestion doesn't have a good chance.

Answer 4

Ahh, gotcha. Now this makes sense as to why the function has been designed the way it has been, Jim....the mongrels!

I'll definitely use the feedback option to voice my preference. I appreciate your suggestion and the insight into how things are currently working.

Thanks again for your help!

May the force be with you!

BMG

Answer 5

I use CHATGPT or Google's Gemini whenever I need assistance in Excel for this very reason. I too find it unreasonable to be forced to save my documents to the cloud to use the ancillary support tool. I am not sure why Microsoft cannot embed the support tool directly into the desktop application. Does it require too much data storage?