Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, 2024, and Word in Microsoft 365. If you are using an earlier version (Word 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Word, click here: Understanding Background Saving.
Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated February 28, 2026)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, 2024, and Word in Microsoft 365
You already know that it is important to periodically save your documents. This helps protect your work in case of catastrophic power failure or inadvertent massive edits (such as those imposed by an errant macro). When your document is small, saving to disk can be done very quickly. As your document grows, or as you start saving your document to storage devices that aren't that speedy, saving can take quite a bit longer to do.
To overcome the delay normally associated with saving a document, Word uses what is known as "background saving." This simply means that Word allows you to continue working as it actually writes your document to disk. The benefit is that you can keep right on working as Word does its housekeeping. You can tell when a background save is taking place because an animated disk appears on the status bar. When the disk disappears, the save is complete.
You can control whether the program utilizes background saving in the following manner:
Figure 1. The Save section of the Advanced options of the Word Options dialog box.
Don't get confused in steps 2 and 3. The Word Options dialog box has a Save option at its left side, but you don't want to click that. You need to click on Advanced (step 2) and scroll down to the Save section (step 3).
Understand that background saving isn't a protection against losing information if you forget to save or if Word crashes or you lose power. All it does is to make your normal saving process faster by allowing the saving to happen in the background after you click on the Save tool.
WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (6106) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, 2024, and Word in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Understanding Background Saving.
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2026-03-19 22:56:02
@Tom Elmore
P.S.: E-mail me if you need more help.
2026-03-19 22:54:24
@Tom Elmore
A workaround (or procedure) you asked for may require to do changes in Word, OneDrive setup, and also the directory structure on your disk,
First find your OneDrive synchronize directory on your hard drive. If you don't see it in your File Explorer, type %onedrive% in File Explorer's address bar, and press <ENTER>. This should open the OneDrive location. Any files and directories that are there are by default synchronized with the cloud, so you may want to move them elsewhere. It may require using Properties dialog box to move libraries like Documents, Pictures, etc.,
Next go to OneDrive Settings (righ-click on the icon in system tray or on the OneDrive folder in the File explorer and select Settings (a cogwheel icon). In Win11 File Explorer you may need to click Show More Options first. In Sync and Backup tab turn essentially all options off, including those under Manage backups. (see Figure 1 below) (see Figure 2 below) for suggested settings.
Once all this is done, open the Word, and go to Word Options, Save tab. (see Figure 3 below) for suggested settings.
Figure 1. One Drive Sync and Backup
Figure 2. OneDrive Backup Folders
Figure 3. Word Save Options
2026-03-19 22:12:29
@Tom Elmore and @Ken:
You confused background saving with automated background saving.
The former is the process happening when you save the file manually. You just do not have to wait for the slow save of a big document to finish and the word becoming responsive again.
On the Save tab of the Word Options there is also a setting for saving AutoRecover information. If set, it will automatically save your progress at the defined interval and allow you to recover unsaved file in case of power failure or user mistake. Whether it will do this in the background or will "freeze" your Word session temporarily may depend on the background saving setting described in Allen's tip.
Another AutoSave setting that Tom mentioned is related to OneDrive AKA MS Cloud. This is a controversial topic, which is further obfuscated by MS claiming that it is a form of backup, which in my opinion **it is not**. It is included in my subscription, so I use it because it allows me to share my files between my different devices, and also with other people, but I have customized the settings, so I have full control which files and directories are synchronized with the cloud, and who has read-only or edit access to them. It also keeps previous versions of the files - the functionality I used many times. So for me it has benefits, but you have to understand very well its functionality and limitations, or risk loosing information. Because of that I do my backups old fashioned way to my external hard drive.
2026-02-28 09:59:43
Ken
Concerning background saving, if, while editing a workbook, you make a huge mistake and do not wish to save that error, wouldn't background saving cause a problem with this?
2026-02-28 08:13:34
Tom Elmore
I am a new "convert" to Word 365, but I don't want the automatic save to the MS Cloud (or any use of the MS Cloud, with it's accompanying monthly charge). Being retired, but active in various groups, I definitely need a word processor, but I don't have the volume needs or a heavy user of Word. Sooo...
It's really frustrating to me that use of automatic background saves in "W365" requires that you use the MS Cloud. I have read in W365 documentation that there is no way to change Background Saving to save to your local device (in my case, a desktop PC), rather than the MS Cloud. However, you can choose to do so by using manual saving to the local device, and turn off Automatic Saving. Does anyone have a work around to make Auto Save more user friendly and autosave to the local device?
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Please Note:
This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, 2024, and Word in Microsoft 365. If you are using an earlier version (Word 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Word, click here:
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