Share via

Why can't encrypted files use Autosave?

Glenda Roberts 0 Reputation points
2026-06-12T07:36:03.44+00:00

Wondering why the encrypted file I had been working on for hours hadn't been autosaved, I saw the autosave toggle was off. When I tried to turn it on, I got this message: "This file is encrypted. Please remove the encryption."

Why can't encrypted files autosave? It's just as important not to lose your work on those files as unencrypted files! Microsoft please fix this.

And, by the way, the auto-generated tags couldn't be attached to this post. Another AI thing that doesn't work.

Microsoft 365 and Office | Excel | For home | Windows

1 answer

Sort by: Most helpful
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Senthil kumar 680 Reputation points
    2026-06-12T08:58:38.1933333+00:00

    Hi @Glenda Roberts

    Thanks to reaching out here.

    First i need to clear with you. Autosave excel files and encrypted excel files are two different mechanism.

    • Autosave requires continuous background writes
    • Autosave works by saving your file every few seconds to suppose your files in OneDrive, SharePoint, Microsoft 365 cloud.
    • Autosave lightly supported cloud but encrypted files should be in local path.
    • encrypted files are designed to never leave your device unencrypted.
    • Autosave would require Excel to first Decrypt the file, then Save a temporary copy and Re‑encrypt it then upload to cloud. Thanks.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments

Your answer

Answers can be marked as 'Accepted' by the question author and 'Recommended' by moderators, which helps users know the answer solved the author's problem.