Trying to connect message when Saving in Excel 365

I did a workaround. My version is currently

Microsoft® Excel® for Microsoft 365 MSO (Version 2212 Build 16.0.15928.20278) 64-bit

I also changed my SAVED options to my local drive instead of the network drive. Since doing that, I have not see the donut circle of death for a while. Neither have I heard from other employees driven insane by watching the blue donut of death when accessing network drives in DFS.

Hi @TAT2027, would you be willing to give a step-by-step on how to do that workaround, please? I'd like to try it myself, but unsure how to set my SAVED options to my local drive.

Many thanks

Open Excel.

Select File, Options, Save.

Change the value of "Default Local File Location" to your local drive.

The auto recover, personal drafts, and templates will most likely already point to your local drive.

As with so many of us on this thread, we use Distributed File Services to access network drives which is the preferred method. However, we also discovered mapping a network drive (W:, P:, G:, etc) also provided a work around from the "attempting to Connect..." message.

For me, changing my default file location to my C: Drive has ended this annoying issue.

Hi TAT2027

That was the workaround I tried when the problem first occurred.

Created a folder on C:\ called Save and if a user needed to save regularly to a network location I dropped a couple of shortcuts to the network locations in there.

I am finding that even on 2302 (build 16130.20218) network file saves are slow and show the Saving Dialog Box which never used to appear. If it did it was always too quick to see.

I have tried both UNC and Mapped Drive as the Default Local File Location and it seems to make little or no difference.

Have also noticed since around December / January updates users are reporting the slow file save is now affecting Office 2013 too.

Excel seems to be the worst affected but Outlook is a close second. Word not so much.

Seems the security/bug fix that broke 365 has been exported via a patch to Office 2013. WOW Microsoft that is something special.

Seems the security/bug fix that broke 365 has been exported via a patch to Office 2013. WOW Microsoft that is something special.

As they say: there's always a trade-off between security and usability 😁

Hi OC_WPC

Agreed about the trade off, fact of life in anything where security is concerned.

What bugs me is we are on page 11 of this topic which started on 12th July last year.

There isn't it seems a consistent fix anywhere for 365 yet and then six months after the initial problem was caused by their update they repeat the same trick with Office 2013.

If that was me deliberately making the same mistake twice 6 months apart while still trying to fix the first one I think I would be encouraged by my boss to find employment elsewhere.

As in "encouraged" by firing me. :(

The last few months have been nothing but 365 online patches breaking things and them either rolling back the patch or patching the patch whilst telling us they are seeking to improve their patch testing to prevent this happening again. Telling us that over and over again.

How do we "fire" Microsoft please? ;)