How-To

Save Microsoft Office Documents to SkyDrive by Default

If you work in a lot in Microsoft Office documents all day, here’s how to save them to SkyDrive by default.

Windows SkyDrive is a great service to save and share your files. If you work in a lot of Microsoft Office documents all day, here’s how to save them to the online drive by default.

First, download and install the SkyDrive app on Vista and Windows 7. It’s included in Windows 8 as a default Metro feature, but you’ll need to install it on the desktop while using the Release Preview. The app is also available for iOS devices, Windows Phone and Mac OS X.

SkyDrive for Windows_Mac_Mobile

Next, it’s a good idea to make a folder for each type of document you work in. For example, here I made a separate folder for Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

SkyDrive Office Folders

With the MS Office folders ready in SkyDrive, it’s easy to make each program save them to the appropriate folder by default. In Word, Excel and PowerPoint 2010 click the File tab and click Options.

Word Options

The Options window comes up. Click on Save then next to Default File Location, enter in the path to the folder you created for the files. Then click OK.

Default Word Location

PowerPoint SkyDrive Path

For Office 2007, click the Office button then Options.

Word 2007 Options

The Options screen comes up. Click Save, then change the default Save location.

Office 2007 SkyDrive Save Location

Now when you have a new document to be saved, it opens to the SkyDrive directory you created for it.

Save Excel Document to SkyDrive

At the time of this writing, you still need to install the Windows SkyDrive app on the Windows 8 desktop to make it the default location for saving docs.

SkyDrive Win8 Desktop

But you can still see your files using the Metro app included by default. Just click the tile from the Metro Start screen.

Launch Metro SkyDrive

There you’ll see all of the folders included in your account as well as the number of files in each folder.

Metro Thumb View SkyDrive

Then it opens files in IE 10 Metro.

IE 10 Metro Online Office App

1 Comment

1 Comment

  1. Hector

    December 6, 2013 at 4:28 pm

    The only problem is that you can not edit word files with word2007

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