Forum Discussion
QueenNini
Apr 04, 2020Iron Contributor
Office Online
I use on the online version of Office and it's automatically saved to one drive. Is there a way to save to other forms of storage such as a flash drive?
Zack Barresse
Apr 29, 2020Iron Contributor
The only other native recourse is to download a copy to your local machine: File > Save As > Download a Copy.
QueenNini
Apr 29, 2020Iron Contributor
Zack Barresse So this method I can save my documents to a flash drive? Thank you for the great suggestion.
- Zack BarresseApr 29, 2020Iron ContributorYes, you could. Since it's web-based [Excel], this action will only download a copy of the file to your default downloads folder. You would then have to manually move it to the desired destination. The thing to remember for something like this is browser-based applications don't have any knowledge of your local folder hierarchies.
- QueenNiniApr 29, 2020Iron Contributor
Zack Barresse Got it. Does it mean I would only have access to the downloaded documents via the internet browser? Would getting the actual office be better? Also what do you mean local folder hierarchies?
- Zack BarresseApr 30, 2020Iron ContributorNo, it doesn't mean that. You still have access to your OneDrive so long as your Microsoft credentials are valid. You can access OneDrive and download files, or open them in Excel Online and save them locally. They'll download to your Downloads folder regardless.
Getting Excel desktop (PC or Mac) is totally up to you. The online versions are nice because the base version is free with any Microsoft account, much like Google Sheets (but Excel is better! lol). There are many advantages to having the local version. I'll list out the basic pros and cons of each.
Pros of Excel Online
Good for basic spreadsheeting, or consuming spreadsheets others have created.
Accessible anywhere you have an internet connection.
Can be opened in most Excel endpoints (i.e. Excel desktop, Excel online, Excel for iOS, etc.).
Can be used as a data source/repository.
Able to be shared easily.
Can utilize JavaScript (this can be difficult and is a whole other can of worms).
Cons of Excel Online
You must have an internet connection and can't use offline.
Much smaller subset of tools/functionality.
Cannot utilize VBA.
Pros of Excel desktop (assuming PC version)
All tools and functionality available.
Can utilize VBA.
Cons of Excel desktop
None.
I think I confused things when I said "local folder hierarchy". Basically what I meant to say was that when you download a file from the internet, like Excel Online, it just goes to your Downloads folder, and then you can move it to another drive if you want.