A pending mail merge is blocking autosave
A pesky issue!
When a pending mail merge is blocking autosave in Microsoft Word, it's usually because the mail merge is still processing in the background and hasn't completed yet. This can cause Word to freeze or become unresponsive, preventing autosave from working.
Here are a few potential solutions to help you resolve this issue:
- Cancel the mail merge: Go to the "Mailings" tab in the ribbon, click on "Finish & Merge" and then select "Cancel" to stop the mail merge process. This should release the lock on the document and allow autosave to work again.
- Save the document as a draft: If canceling the mail merge isn't an option, try saving the document as a draft. Go to "File" > "Save As" and choose a location to save the document. In the "Save as type" dropdown, select "Word Document" and make sure the "Save as a draft" checkbox is checked. This will save the document in a temporary location, allowing you to continue working on it without the mail merge blocking autosave.
- Close and reopen the document: Sometimes, simply closing and reopening the document can resolve the issue. Try closing the document, then reopening it and checking if autosave is working again.
- Disable the mail merge: If the above steps don't work, you can try disabling the mail merge feature altogether. Go to the "Mailings" tab in the ribbon, click on "Mail Merge" and then select "Disable Mail Merge" from the dropdown menu. This will remove the mail merge feature from the document, allowing you to continue working on it without any issues.
- Check for add-ins: If none of the above steps work, it's possible that an add-in is causing the issue. Try disabling all add-ins and then re-enabling them one by one to see if the problem persists.
I hope one of these solutions helps you resolve the issue and get autosave working again!