OneDrive AutoSave isn't working, and it's creating new files instead of saving over my original file.

Anonymous
2024-03-25T00:08:24+00:00

For years I've been using OneDrive and whenever I open a file on my PC, "AutoSave" is automatically turned on. And when I make changes to my document, that specific file gets updated.

But for some reason, yesterday that changed. Now "AutoSave" is turned off by default. And when I turn it on, it tells me that I need to upload it to OneDrive. When i click OK, it creates a NEW file in OneDrive/Documents folder. The original file that I opened in (for example) OneDrive\Other\Recipes never got changed. So now I have 2 files. One is in OneDrive/Documents (the changed version) and the unchanged version is in OneDrive\Other\Recipes.

It works perfectly fine on my mobile app. When i open my document in OneDrive\Other\Recipes, it automatically saves changes as I modify the document. And it overwrites the original file. It doesn't create a NEW file in the OneDrive/Documents folder. That is what my PC did for years, up until yesterday.

I've removed and reinstalled OneDrive. That didnt help.

I've reset Onedrive. That didn't help.

My "AutoSave by Default" box is checked in Options/Save in Excel and Word.

Can someone please help me figure out how to fix this?

Microsoft 365 and Office | OneDrive | For home | Windows

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

45 answers

Sort by: Most helpful
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2024-10-30T08:57:14+00:00

    Anyone find a solution ?

    I have the same problem.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2024-10-16T21:30:54+00:00

    Has anyone found a solution to this problem?

    This has started happening to me from last week, is there a virus spreading and creating these issues am finding it difficult to keep up as all my updated files suddenly have one name.

    Can someone who has changed this please revert to the old way of doing things My entire team is frustrated as it keeps changing the location of the file

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2024-09-05T09:05:03+00:00

    That's the problem. They changed it so that AutoSave creates the new file. That's how it's "supposed" to work now, and they think it's helpful. I've yet to find one person who likes this new change.

    I'd suggest don't even use AutoSave anymore. Just manually save the file each time you've make changes. If you have your Desktop synced to your OneDrive, the file in OneDrive will sync too.

    There is another solution. You go to your OneDrive folder by internet, not in your computer, you chose your file there and you chose either to open excel by internet or, as I prefer, use Excel on your desktop. Like this you have only one version by internet that is get modified.

    I cannot have multiple versions since I share the same file with other people. It is real absurd to create multiple files, I totally agree.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  4. Anonymous
    2024-09-05T09:01:35+00:00

    So now I have 2 files. One is in OneDrive/Documents (the changed version) and the unchanged version is in OneDrive\Other\Recipes

    The new file (the changed version) is what you want, isn't it? Your work is saved and thankfully you don't need to start over each time. Both versions are in OneDrive.

    OneDrive\Documents is the syncing system folder when Documents syncing is toggled on at Manage Backup. OneDrive\Other\Recipes is not in the Documents folder.

    I share my original file with another people. I don't need to create multiple versions of the same file each dayt I open a file. I need one file that sync with all that I can use everyday and not to create duplicates.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  5. Anonymous
    2024-08-29T03:14:27+00:00

    The registry fix provided by @Ferreira Cédric didn't help.

    Manually installing updates in Office only helped a little (https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/install-office-updates-2ab296f3-7f03-43a2-8e50-46de917611c5)

    I found that when I launch a Word (.docx) file from File Explorer or a terminal (start "My/file.docx"), AutoSave is turned on. When I launch the Word document from Everything (https://www.voidtools.com/), AutoSave isn't turned on. So, that leads me to believe that there is a problem with AutoSave when files are launched using a certain API. Anyone have any ideas about this?

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments