Office 2007 - how to change default load/save directory?

Question

With most applications I use (for example: Textpad, Paint.NET), if I have an document open and then go to open another, the file selector will naturally default to the directory where the already open document resides.

Word 2007 and Excel 2007 don't do this. I can't seem to find anything obvious in their options to achieve this. Is there anyway of getting them to do this?

Answer 1

Changing the default save folder is done separately for each Office component.

The article Change your default Save As folder in Office explains how to do that. To resume :

Word 2007, click the Office button, choose Word Options at the bottom of the window, click Save in the left pane, select Browse to the right of Default file location, browse to the folder of your choice, and click OK twice.

Excel 2007, click the Office button, choose Excel Options at the bottom of the window, and select Save in the left pane. Paste the folder path into the text box to the right of Default file location, and click OK.

PowerPoint 2007, click the Office button, choose PowerPoint Options at the bottom of the window, select Save in the left pane, paste the folder path in the text field to the right of Default file location, and click OK.

If your problem is making "Save As" use the same folder as where the file was opened in, then for Excel you need to use regedit. Go to the registry key
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Excel\Options
and add a dword value named AlwaysSaveToCurrentPath and set it to 0

I do not know of such a solution for Word.

Answer 2

As far as I know, MS Office programs always load/save programs in a specified location. To change this location (e.g. for Excel), just follow the steps below:

1. Click the Office Button.
2. Click the Excel Options button.
3. In the left pane, select Save.
4. In the Default file location textbox, input the path to the desired directory that will be the new default location, and click OK.