Word to save new files on Microsoft’s servers by default

You already need custom scripts and third-party applications that make custom Windows ISOs to make installing Windows somewhat bearable – unless you enjoy spending hours manually disabling all the anti-user settings in Windows – and now there’s another setting to add to the massive, growing list of stuff you have to fix after setting up a new Windows installation. Microsoft has announced that Word will start saving every new file to OneDrive (or another provider if you’ve installed one) by default.

We are modernizing the way files are created and stored in Word for Windows! Now you don’t have to worry about saving your documents: Anything new you create will be saved automatically to OneDrive or your preferred cloud destination.
↫ Raul Munoz on the Microsoft 365 Insider Blog

There’s the usual spiel of how this is safer and supposedly more convenient, but I suspect the real reason Microsoft is doing this is listed right there at the end of the list of supposed benefits: this enables the use of Copilot’s “AI” features right from the beginning. In other words, by automatically saving your new Word documents to OneDrive by default, you’re giving Microsoft access to whatever you write for “AI” training purposes.

The setting can be changed, but defaults matter and few people change them. It’s also possible to set another provider than OneDrive as your online storage, but again – defaults matter. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if few people will even realise their Word documents will be stored not on their local PC, but on Microsoft’s servers.