Office for Mac no longer recognizes OneDrive files for AutoSave – “Saved on My Mac”

Question

Since a few days, Word and PowerPoint on my Mac no longer automatically save files to OneDrive.

My files are stored in my company's OneDrive folder and OneDrive itself appears to be working normally. The files sync correctly between my Mac and OneDrive.

However, when I open a Word or PowerPoint file, Office shows “Saved on My Mac” and the AutoSave toggle is OFF.

If I manually switch AutoSave on, Office tells me that I need to save/upload the file to OneDrive. I can do this successfully, but after I close the file and open it again, AutoSave is OFF again and the file once again shows “Saved on My Mac.”

Details

macOS

Microsoft Office/PowerPoint version: 16.111

OneDrive version: 26.134.0713

OneDrive is a business/company account

Files are stored under: ~/Library/CloudStorage/OneDrive-BUSINESSNAME/

• Example file: ~/Library/CloudStorage/OneDrive-BUSINESSNAME/FILENAME.pptx

Troubleshooting already tried

OneDrive appears to be syncing normally; there are no general sync problems.

I always open the files directly from the OneDrive folder in Finder.

I also tried opening the same files through PowerPoint → File → Open → OneDrive. AutoSave is still OFF.

I tested with a newly created presentation, not just existing files. After saving it to OneDrive, closing and reopening it also results in AutoSave being OFF.

I signed out of my business Microsoft account in Office and signed in again. The problem persists.

I checked for Office updates, but Office reports that 16.111 is up to date.

This makes it seem like Office is no longer recognizing files in my OneDrive folder as OneDrive/cloud files, even though OneDrive itself is syncing them correctly.

Is there a known issue or a way to reset the Office ↔ OneDrive integration without reinstalling/resetting the entire OneDrive setup?

Answer 1

Dear Carina, 

Thank you for taking the time to work through both of those steps, and I am sorry neither resolved it.

To answer your question directly: yes, given that other users are reporting the same behavior, a issue in the current OneDrive or Office for Mac version does now look like the most probable explanation. Your testing has effectively ruled out the local causes, which is genuinely useful evidence in itself.

This is precisely why I would encourage escalating it to Microsoft, as I mentioned earlier. A support engineer can confirm whether this is a known regression in the current build, and if it is, your report contributes to getting it prioritised and fixed. It also means you would be notified once a fix ships, rather than having to keep testing blindly. I hope this gets addressed quickly. If you do hear back from support, I would be genuinely interested to know the outcome, as it would help others hitting the same issue.

Answer 2

Hi,

We have been experiencing exactly the same issue since last Friday on five different Macs, with the same symptoms described here.

OneDrive sync works correctly, but Office no longer recognizes files opened from the local OneDrive/SharePoint folder as cloud files, so AutoSave remains disabled.

Microsoft, please investigate this issue urgently. This is seriously impacting our daily work.

Answer 3

Tenía el mismo problema, realice las siguientes acciones y funciona.

Reset completo de OneDrive

Antes de reinstalar nada, haría un reset del cliente.

1. Cierra Word, Excel y OneDrive.
2. En Finder selecciona:

Ir > Ir a la carpeta

1. Abre:

/Applications/OneDrive.app/Contents/Resources

1. Ejecuta:

ResetOneDriveApp.command

Si existe una versión standalone:

ResetOneDriveAppStandalone.command

1. Espera que OneDrive vuelva a iniciar.
2. Inicia sesión nuevamente.
3. Deja finalizar la sincronización.

Answer 4

Dear Carina, 

Your testing has been very thorough, and it does point away from a normal sync failure. Because the issue affects both existing and newly created files, including those opened through File > Open > OneDrive, it appears Office is losing the cloud-file identity supplied by OneDrive rather than simply using a stale Finder path. As a forum moderator, I genuinely wish I could directly access your account or delve into the backend systems to diagnose and fix this for you. Unfortunately, my role here is limited to providing general guidance and solutions that can be applied by users. Since you asked whether there is a way to reset the Office and OneDrive integration without reinstalling everything, there are two things worth trying that are not covered by the steps you have already taken.

1.Reset Office's cached identity and licensing.

Signing out within Office does not always clear the underlying cached identity on macOS. To do this properly:

1. Quit all Office applications with Command + Q.
2. Open Keychain Access (Finder > Applications > Utilities).
3. Search for and delete any entries containing MicrosoftOffice, Microsoft Office Identities, ADAL, and Office 365.
4. In Finder, press Command + Shift + G and go to ~/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T346G9.Office/Licenses, then delete the contents of that folder.
5. Restart your Mac, open PowerPoint, and sign back in with your business account.

2.Reset the Office app container.

A corrupted preferences container can also cause Office to misidentify file locations:

1. Quit all Office applications.
2. In Finder, press Command + Shift + G and go to ~/Library/Containers/.
3. Move com.microsoft.Powerpoint and com.microsoft.Word to your Desktop rather than deleting them, so you can restore them if needed.
4. Restart your Mac and reopen the apps.

If neither of these resolves it, this would need investigation from the service side. I recommend that the Global Admin in your organization create a service request with Microsoft Support. A technical support engineer can perform a remote session to investigate the situation, verify the backend configurations, and run any necessary synchronization tools to resolve the problem. If the issue requires further attention, they can escalate it to a specialized team for deeper analysis. For detailed instructions on how to get support, please refer to Get support - Microsoft 365 admin. If you don't know who your IT administrator is, please refer to this article: How do I find my Microsoft 365 admin? - Microsoft Support 

For additional assistance, use this link to find the appropriate contact number from your region: Contact Microsoft customer support | Microsoft Support 

I truly hope you get your issue resolved swiftly. Please know that even though I can't directly intervene, directing you to the correct, specialized support is the most effective help I can provide from my position. Thank you for your patience and understanding. Please let me know if you need anything else. Wishing you all the best.

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