Local Autosave Capability

Suggestions Desktop Editors
1

Dear ONLYOFFICE Team,

I hope this message finds you well. I am a dedicated user of ONLYOFFICE and appreciate the robust features and user-friendly interface your software offers. Today, I write to suggest an enhancement that I believe could significantly improve the user experience: the introduction of an offline, local autosave feature.

As a professional deeply engaged in the field of economic theory and a member of the European Association of Agricultural Economists (EAAE), my work often involves handling sensitive data and complex models. The ability to automatically save documents directly onto my PC, without the need for cloud synchronization, would not only enhance data security but also ensure that my work is not interrupted by internet connectivity issues.

This local autosave feature would provide several key advantages:

  1. Enhanced Data Security: By enabling local storage, the risk associated with potential cloud storage breaches is mitigated, ensuring the confidentiality of sensitive information.
  2. Uninterrupted Accessibility: With documents autosaved locally, I can continue working on them even in the absence of an internet connection, thus maintaining productivity.
  3. Faster Performance: Local saving often surpasses cloud syncing in speed, especially crucial for users like me, dealing with large datasets and complex economic models.
  4. Compliance with Data Sovereignty Laws: For professionals working under strict data sovereignty regulations, local autosaving would be a compliance-friendly feature.
  5. Custom Backup Solutions: This feature allows users to integrate their own backup systems for more personalized data management.
  6. Energy Efficiency: Reducing the frequency of cloud syncing can contribute to more sustainable use of digital tools.

As a user who values the privacy and security of my research and data, I believe this feature would be a substantial addition to ONLYOFFICE, attracting a wider user base who share similar requirements for local data storage and management.

Thank you for considering this suggestion. I am looking forward to seeing how ONLYOFFICE continues to evolve and meet the diverse needs of its users.

1 Like
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Hi @stefanstavrianos :handshake:

Could you please provide further details about your use case?
Are you referring to the use of ONLYOFFICE Desktop Editors?

We need a more detailed description of your usage scenario. Perhaps you have examples of products that have already implemented this solution.

1 Like
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Hi @Nikolas

As a regular user of productivity software, including suites like LibreOffice and Microsoft Office, I’ve noticed a significant gap in their functionalities which ONLYOFFICE could uniquely fill. I am proposing the addition of an offline, local autosave feature in ONLYOFFICE. My extensive use of document processing tools for my research in economic theory has highlighted the necessity of such a feature. Currently, none of the suites I use, including LibreOffice and Microsoft Office, offer an offline autosave function. This feature would be revolutionary for users who work with large documents and may not always remember to manually save their progress every few minutes. The absence of this feature becomes particularly critical in situations with no internet access, where the inability to autosave work can lead to potential data loss, a scenario that can be quite catastrophic. The local autosave feature would automatically save documents at regular intervals directly onto the user’s computer.

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@stefanstavrianos :+1:
I will pass along your idea. As soon as we get a result, I will let you know right away.

1 Like
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@stefanstavrianos
Did you mean this suggestion for ONLYOFFICE DocSpace product along with ONLYOFFICE Desktop Editors?

1 Like
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Thank you for considering my suggestion regarding the ONLYOFFICE suite. I would like to elucidate that the feature I proposed is particularly beneficial when integrated with the ONLYOFFICE Desktop Editors, primarily due to their offline functionality. This offline capability is a significant aspect of the Desktop Editors, as it ensures uninterrupted productivity and accessibility without the need for a consistent internet connection.

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@stefanstavrianos :handshake:
Can I clarify what led you to come up with this suggestion?

Perhaps an incident with editing and suddenly losing internet connection?

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Hi Nikolas, I am new to Only Office and I like it very much … but why does something have to go wrong with saving to the cloud for a software user to want the option to autosave locally?
I have stopped using both the desktop MSO 2021 as well as Office 365 even though I have a Premium account through work for the very reason that if I wish to autosave locally, I have to write a separate script to make it happen.
Cloud computing is great, but it should not supplant local copies entirely. I am a professional writer and when I am working on a longer project I much prefer that my early drafts are only saved locally.
Saving locally was the only option for many decades in every office suite and even simple notes apps.
I appreciate that you are trying to help but it strikes me as ridiculous that a case needs to be made to justify the desire to save your own work entirely offline sometimes. Thank you for your consideration.

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Hey @stefanstavrianos and @brasscupcakes, :wave:

Thanks for your thoughtful suggestion about local autosave in ONLYOFFICE Desktop Editors! To clarify, Desktop Editors already saves changes locally by default, but it uses a recovery-based system rather than traditional autosave. Changes are stored in a recovery folder (e.g., %LocalAppData%\ONLYOFFICE\DesktopEditors\data\recover on Windows) after editing stops, as detailed here: How to Recover Documents. These can be recovered via Recent Files > Recover Files if the app crashes or shuts down unexpectedly.

That said, it sounds like you’re proposing a more explicit local autosave feature (like periodic file saves without cloud sync). Could you share your specific use case in more detail? For example:

  • Are you using ONLYOFFICE Desktop Editors or/and DocSpace?
  • Are you looking for autosave to update the original file directly on your PC (bypassing the recovery folder)?
  • Is this about avoiding cloud sync entirely for privacy/security, or handling large files offline?

I think I’m close to understanding — it seems you want files to autosave directly on the client. But to nail it down, a clear picture of your scenario would really help.