Forum Discussion
Task Bar Office context menu shows wrong recent file
I try to always save my office files locally, and let Onedrive sync to the cloud. However, the TaskBar right-click context menu of (say) Word always offers the cloud version under 'recent'. I have to go and find the local version, and open that from File Explorer. Then i get TWO versions under recent, and can delete the online version (which I don't want to load). I have a single personal PC, and prefer to work with local files (quicker) but know I have the online files for security/backup, and can access them from iPad and phone.
1 Reply
Try this as a workaround:
- Turn Off Office Sync Integration with OneDrive
This prevents Office from treating cloud files as “live” documents.
- Open OneDrive Settings
- Go to Settings > Office
- Uncheck: “Use Office applications to sync Office files that I open”
- Change Default Save Location
Make sure Office apps save to your local drive first.
- Open Word/Excel/PowerPoint
- Go to File > Options > Save
- Check: “Save to Computer by default”
- Set your preferred local folder (e.g., C:\Users\Kidd\Documents)
- Pin Local Files Manually
To avoid confusion in the Jump List:
- Open the local file from File Explorer
- Right-click the file in the Recent list (in Word or taskbar)
- Select Pin to this list to keep the correct version visible
- Use Selective Sync in OneDrive
If you don’t need real-time sync for certain folders:
- Open OneDrive > Settings > Account > Choose folders
- Uncheck folders you want to keep local-only
This reduces OneDrive’s interference with file paths.
