Turn off AutoSave by default in Excel: registry value autosavebydefaultadminchoiceUserHKCU\software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\excel

Policy ID: L_autoSaveDefaultOffExcel
Scope: User Configuration
Supported on: At least Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows 7
Source: Microsoft 365 Apps / Office Administrative Templates (version 5568.1000)
Category: Microsoft Office 2016 › AutoSave

Registry

autosavebydefaultadminchoice

REG_DWORDUser

HKCU\software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\excel Current key

Enabled value: Depends on the option value
Element: -

Options
Item	Stored value
Use AutoSave Default Setting	0
AutoSave Is On By Default	1
AutoSave Is Off By Default	2

Apply with .reg · CMD · PowerShell

.reg

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\excel]

; Options (use only one)
; Use AutoSave Default Setting
"autosavebydefaultadminchoice"=dword:00000000
; AutoSave Is On By Default
"autosavebydefaultadminchoice"=dword:00000001
; AutoSave Is Off By Default
"autosavebydefaultadminchoice"=dword:00000002

CMD

:: Options (use only one)

:: Use AutoSave Default Setting
reg add "HKCU\software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\excel" /v "autosavebydefaultadminchoice" /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f
:: AutoSave Is On By Default
reg add "HKCU\software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\excel" /v "autosavebydefaultadminchoice" /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f
:: AutoSave Is Off By Default
reg add "HKCU\software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\excel" /v "autosavebydefaultadminchoice" /t REG_DWORD /d 2 /f

PowerShell

# Common: create the key
New-Item -Path 'HKCU:\software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\excel' -Force | Out-Null

# Options (use only one)
# Use AutoSave Default Setting
New-ItemProperty -Path 'HKCU:\software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\excel' -Name 'autosavebydefaultadminchoice' -PropertyType DWord -Value 0 -Force | Out-Null
# AutoSave Is On By Default
New-ItemProperty -Path 'HKCU:\software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\excel' -Name 'autosavebydefaultadminchoice' -PropertyType DWord -Value 1 -Force | Out-Null
# AutoSave Is Off By Default
New-ItemProperty -Path 'HKCU:\software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\excel' -Name 'autosavebydefaultadminchoice' -PropertyType DWord -Value 2 -Force | Out-Null