How can I change Autosave time in Microsoft Word documents?

The Auto-Save feature in Microsoft Word minimizes the chances of losing your work when creating and editing your documents. Microsoft Word may crash, the power can go out, your computer may crash, or you can accidentally close the application without saving the edited documents. With this in mind, it’s better to take precautions.

By default, Microsoft Word automatically saves your content every 10 minutes. The more changes you make to your document, the more often you need to save it. If you work fast on your documents, you may find the 10-minute interval to be too long. Microsoft Word also has the Auto-Recover feature, which helps you resume your work where you left off when the unexpected happens.

Today, we’ll show you how to change the Auto-Save time interval in Word for Windows.

How to Change Auto-Save Time in Microsoft Word 2016

To use the Auto-Save feature, you have to enable it in Microsoft Word. You also have the option to set a time interval that you find ideal.

Follow these steps:

1. From the “Start” menu, type word.
2. Select “Word 2016” from the results.
3. After Microsoft Word opens, select the “File” tab located in the top left corner of the menu bar.
4. Find and select “Options” to open the “Word Options” window.
5. Click on “Save” on the left-side pane. Under the “Save documents” section on the right-side pane, you’ll see many options listed.
6. Check the box next to “Save AutoRecover information every _ minutes”. Fill in the number of minutes, which is the frequency at which you desire Word to save your documents. To ensure the safety of your work, enter a small number, like 1, in the ‘minutes’ box.
7. Next, make sure the box next to “Keep the last autosaved version if I close without saving” is checked.
8. Now, on the left pane, select the “Advanced” tab.
9. Scroll down to the “Save” section and check the box next to “Allow background saves”.
10. Finally, click the “OK” button for the changes to take effect.

This process will work for Word 2010, Word 2013, Excel 2016, Access 2016, and PowerPoint 2016. The changes will apply to all your documents.

How to Protect Your Documents

Malware can spread to your computer while you’re online browsing and you open a malicious webpage or through a USB flash drive when transferring files. Some malware entities target vulnerable systems and attack silently without your knowledge.

Either way, malware infections are dangerous and jeopardize the safety of your personal information and files, including your Word documents. To be on the safe side, you need the Auslogics Anti-Malware tool that offers all-round protection against any type of malware.

Your antivirus alone is not enough, and to fight off malware and phishing attacks, this tool acts fast on any suspicious files and counters security threats. If you spend most of your time online, you’re aware that new malware is written and spread every day. With the Auslogics Anti-Malware tool, you have full protection 24 hours a day.

Most importantly, you need to scan your PC regularly and this tool allows you to schedule automatic scans. This keeps hackers from accessing and stealing sensitive information from your computer.

Now that you know how to use Auto-Save in Word 2016, that is, you have turned on and set the Auto-Save time interval, all your documents will be saved according to your settings. You’ll also be able to recover your work in case there’s a power failure or a system crash.