3 Ways To Change The Default Save Location Of Microsoft Word Files

While working with Word documents, saving is one of the major aspects. Some users save documents directly to one drive, while some users prefer to save documents locally too. Word has a default location to save your documents, but you can change it if you want.In this article I would provide you 3 easy ways using which you can change the default save location for your Word documents

How do I change my save location in Word?

To change your save location, or to make a location your default for saving Word documents, follow these two methods:

1. Using Word Options

You can use the Microsoft Word Options window to change the saving location, here’s how:

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  1. Go to the File tab in the Ribbon
  2. Select Options from the left side pane
  3. In the Word Options window, go to Save
  4. Search for the option to Default local file location
  5. In the address bar next to it, you can see your current default save location
  6. If you wish to change it, click Browse
  7. This will take you to your PC and browse the location you wish to save your future files into, such as a specific folder or drive
  8. Click OK when you are done
  9. Your default save location will be changed and set to the folder/location you selected

2. Using the drop down menu

A quick way to change the default location is by using the drop-down menu. Follow these steps:

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  1. Once you are done completing the document, press ctrl + s
  2. This will open the save as prompt, asking you to select a saving location
  3. The drop-down menu will show you recent location where you saved your local files, and the current default file saving location
  4. To change it, simply right click on the folder you now wish to set as default
  5. You will see the option Set As Default Location when you right-click, tap it to set that location as default
  6. Your default saving location will now be updated

3. Using Command line

This is another way to change the default saving location of Word files. Here’s how

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  1. Open command prompt by pressing Windows key + R and typing cmd in the field
  2. This will open the command prompt. In that, trace this path:
    reg add “HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Word\Options” /v “DOC-PATH” /t REG_EXPAND_SZ /d “%userprofile%\Documents” /f
  3. The above command line will set the Documents folder as default
  4. Similarly, you can set the default folder by writing the name of the folder in the path instead of “Documents”. I wrote this as an example
  5. Once the folder is successfully set, you will see a confirmation generated by the command prompt. Your default save location will be updated

Conclusion

Hopefully, this article will help you in changing the default save location for local Word files.

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