Sudden permissions issue saving MS docs on a Mac

[Watching and Waiting]

I need help from those of you who are good at this sort of thing. I have been using MS Word for years and have created transcripts using blank docs and blank templates. Without changing a thing, my fully updated MS 365 and Mac Mini suddenly are forcing me to save my docs in One Drive, which I detest.  

 

I have tried every way of disabling the backup, unlinking my Mac from One Drive, tried to change the default file save to the one I've used forever—all to no avail.  AI is saying that MS is trying to force everyone to its cloud-based storage, which may be the straw that breaks this camel's back—uh NO! The $99/yr  subscription is getting prohibitive also.

 

Any suggestions, as I feel like it is something simple that I'm missing.  How can this change so drastically over a week or so when I last saved a document (been on vacation, and this is what happens LOL).  Any help would be greatly appreciated.  My hubby uses Pages and has never used MS, so no help there.  TYIA

 

[Myew]

I'm not actively familiar with MacOS, so I can't guide you, but you should be able to download the raw files from OneDrive's website or copy them from your synced cloud folder to another location/drive.

What I can offer is an alternative. MS is only going to continue to get more intrusive, imposing their will on the hardware that you own if you agree to their terms, and buckle down on locking you into their ecosystem so that you pay them those subscription fees. You likely don't need to be paying them for their apps, there are several free and open source alternatives that do exactly the same thing. LibreOffice and OpenOffice are two of the most commonly recommended. LibreOffice comes default on many Linux operating systems. There is also OnlyOffice, which I believe is free but not open source? They do sell some products or something. However, it is designed specifically for compatibility with Word documents and with a very similar feel, it may be more what you're looking for. If you must stick with Microsoft Word, you might even buy an older lifetime license of Microsoft Office (2019?) that is separate from the 365 subscription and doesn't require sharing to OneDrive.

https://www.libreoffice.org/
https://www.openoffice.org/
https://www.onlyoffice.com/

Edited 6 hours ago by Myew

[jwhess]

I use the "older version" approach when dealing with Microsoft Office.  Once purchased it is 'mine' on 'my computer'.  And MS leaves me alone (so far).

[Watching and Waiting]

Thank you Alex @Myew for your suggestions. Up to this year, the subscription was more than I paid for any other suite of apps, but it took a jump to $99 at renewal and it really made me think about cutting the umbilical.  Often it's just a case of what we're used to and not making the change, but this OneDrive business is really getting my dander up.  I've heard of all of your suggested alternatives with the exception of Onlyoffice.  My concern is the years and years of accumulation of Word docs and whether I will have compatibility issues, not just for my theocratic vault of docs, but also personal and business finances and all things attached to those, when I have to open up something from the past.  People must do it all the time, so my fears are probably unfounded. 

[dljbsp]

3 hours ago, Watching and Waiting said:

Any suggestions, as I feel like it is something simple that I'm missing.  How can this change so drastically over a week or so when I last saved a document (been on vacation, and this is what happens LOL).  Any help would be greatly appreciated.  My hubby uses Pages and has never used MS, so no help there.  TYIA

Click File

Save As . . .
To the right of the address where it is saving it, there is a "⌃" Select that, it will show all locations available.

This is in Word version Version 16.102.3 (25110228), in office 365. I have disabled MS AI, so it is not forcing me at all. - That might be why my options are this way.



How to disable co-pilot
 

 

👉 Mac (Desktop apps: Word, Excel, PowerPoint)

 

1. Open the Office app (e.g., Word).

2. Go to Preferences (Mac). 

   • On Mac: go to Preferences → Authoring & Proofing Tools → Copilot, then uncheck “Enable Copilot”. 

3.  

4. Still in the app: go to Preferences → Privacy (Mac).

    

   • Find the Connected Experiences section, and clear or uncheck “Turn on experiences that analyze your content” (or similar wording). 

5. Close the app and restart. The AI assistant (Copilot) should be disabled for that app on that device. Repeat for each Office app and device as needed. 

 

---

 

Edited 4 hours ago by dljbsp

[Myew]

32 minutes ago, Watching and Waiting said:

My concern is the years and years of accumulation of Word docs and whether I will have compatibility issues, not just for my theocratic vault of docs, but also personal and business finances and all things attached to those, when I have to open up something from the past.  People must do it all the time, so my fears are probably unfounded. 

More or less. Nothing should prevent you from installing an app and trying it right now. You could sort your documents by filetype and try one of each. There generally shouldn't be any issues.