Use OneDrive with Office

You can quickly open and save OneDrive documents right from your Office apps like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. If you also have the OneDrive desktop app installed on your PC (some editions of Office come with the OneDrive desktop app), OneDrive and Office work together to sync documents and let you work with other people on shared documents at the same time.

To save Office documents to OneDrive:

1. Sign in to OneDrive when you install Office, or right from any Office app. Tap or click Sign in in the upper-right corner of the app, and then enter your Microsoft account email address and password.

2. Open the document you want to save to OneDrive, tap or click File > Save As, choose your OneDrive, and then choose the folder where you want to save the file.

For info about creating Office documents in OneDrive using Office Online, see Using Office Online in OneDrive.

Windows 10, Windows 7, or Windows Vista

To optimize OneDrive for use with Office, verify that the "Use Office..." option is selected in OneDrive settings.

1. Select the white or blue OneDrive cloud icon in the Windows taskbar notification area.

   

   (You might need to click the Show hidden icons arrow next to the notification area to see the OneDrive icon.)

2. In the activity center, select More > Settings.

   

3. Click Office, and then select the Use Office to work on files with other people at the same time check box.

   (In Windows 7 and Windows Vista, the check box says Use Office to sync files faster and work on files with other people at the same time.)

Note: If you turn off the Use Office to work on files with other people at the same time setting, any changes that you and other people make to Office files will no longer merge together automatically.

Windows 8.1

To see if you have the OneDrive desktop app installed on your PC, follow these steps:

1. On the Start screen, enter Programs and tap or click Programs and features.

2. In the list of installed programs, look for MicrosoftOneDrive. If you find it, it means the desktop app is installed on your PC.

In Windows 8.1, you can install the OneDrive desktop app and turn on a setting that lets you use Office to work on OneDrive documents with other people at the same time. Because OneDrive is built in to Windows 8.1, no other desktop app features will be installed. Download the free desktop app.

View OneDrive system requirements. Downloading the app means you agree to the Microsoft Services Agreement and privacy statement. This software might also download and install its updates automatically.

Related topics

Save a file in Office for Mac

Sync documents with OneDrive (Windows Phone)

Office Mobile for Android phones

Install and set up Office on an iPhone or iPad with Office 365

Need more help?

Get help by emailing the OneDrive support team. In a OneDrive mobile app, shake the device to get help or share feedback on OneDrive.

Check the OneDrive help center.