Microsoft says that Word for Windows will soon enable autosave and automatically save all new documents to the cloud by default.
The company is currently testing this new feature with the help of Microsoft 365 Insiders in the Beta Channel, who will get it after upgrading to Word for Windows Version 2509 (Build 19221.20000) or later, which was released on Monday.
Microsoft will also roll out this functionality to Excel for Windows and PowerPoint for Windows users later this year.
"We are modernizing the way files are created and stored in Word for Windows," said Raul Munoz, a Product Manager on the Office Shared Services and Experiences team.
"Now you don't have to worry about saving your documents: Anything new you create will be saved automatically to OneDrive or your preferred cloud destination."
While the new feature will select the user's OneDrive account as the default file location, customers will also have the option to choose a folder on their own computer.
They will also be able to change how new files are created (the traditional way or automatically in the cloud) by going to the Save page in the Word options and selecting or deselecting 'Create new files in the cloud automatically.'
Word autosaving to the cloud (Microsoft)
While testing this new feature, the company still needs to address a handful of known issues, including one where newly created documents are not automatically saved when a new Word session is started while another is already running.
Also, in some cases, after changing the name of a document, there can be a delay in refreshing the list of recent files. Additionally, if the "Show the Start screen when this application starts" setting is disabled, the first file created after starting Word will not be saved automatically.
Those who want to test this new feature can join the Microsoft 365 Insider program and upgrade their Word app to Version 2509 (Build 19221.20000) or later..
Earlier this month, Microsoft also announced that the transcription, dictation, and read aloud features will stop working in outdated versions of Microsoft 365 Office applications in late January 2026.
In May, Redmond also announced plans to end support for Office apps on Windows 10 later this year and reminded customers in April that Office 2016 and Office 2019 will reach the end of extended support in less than two months, on October 14, 2025.