How to turn off online conversion from Word for Mac to PDF

AL 20 Reputation points
2026-06-02T15:14:55.5133333+00:00

I am using Word 16.101.2 (25292825) with an Office 365 subscription on an iMac running Ventura 13.7.8.

Every time I try to save a Word doc to PDF by selecting File > Save As and PDF as the File Format, I get this message:

" Allow online file conversion to open and export certain types of files? To open and export certain types of files, Word need to convert the file using a Microsoft online service. Learn about or turn off this service by going to Preferences > Security and Privacy. Don't Allow / Allow"

I don't want the file converted online. How can I turn this off so the PDF conversion occurs locally on my machine (which I can do on a MacBook Pro that runs Word 16.77 as part of an Office 365 subscription)?

If I can't turn this off, how can I be sure my file will not be used for AI training?

Thank you.

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | Other | MacOS
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AI answer

2026-06-02T15:15:32.3266667+00:00

Online conversion for creating accessible, tagged PDFs on macOS is controlled by the “connected experiences” and privacy settings in Office.

To stop Word from using the online service for PDF conversion on Mac:

  1. Open Word on the iMac.
  2. Go to the app menu (Word in the top-left menu bar) and choose Preferences.
  3. Under Personal Settings, select Privacy.
  4. In the Privacy dialog, go to Connected Experiences > Manage Connected Experiences.
  5. Clear the checkbox Turn on experiences that analyze your content.
  6. Select OK, then close and restart Word.

With these settings off, Word will not use the Microsoft online service for conversions such as “Best for electronic distribution and accessibility (uses Microsoft online service)”. Use the standard File > Save As, choose PDF and avoid the “Best for electronic distribution and accessibility (uses Microsoft online service)” option; this keeps conversion local.

Regarding AI training: when the online conversion option is used, the document is sent to a secure Microsoft service, converted, and immediately returned. According to Microsoft’s description, “The Microsoft online service doesn't store any of your file content on our servers.” Disabling connected experiences that analyze content, and avoiding the online conversion option, prevents content from being sent to that service.

References:

AI-generated content may be incorrect. Read our transparency notes for more information.

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