Microsoft sends PDFs to strange new worlds instead of SharePoint

Microsoft has acknowledged a bug in Word for Windows where saving a PDF document to SharePoint Online can result in the file being saved in an unexpected location with a random name. This issue was introduced in version 2609 of Word and affects users who save documents as PDFs to SharePoint Online using the Save/Save As option. The file is saved in a location on the user's computer (C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\INetCache\Content.MSO), and the random filename can lead to confusion and potential data loss.

Word does not display any error message to alert the user of the problem. Microsoft has not yet provided a fix for the issue, but users can potentially resolve it by rolling back the update. This is not the first time Microsoft has faced significant issues this year, with users experiencing a paste glitch, data loss in Microsoft 365, and ongoing problems from a recent Windows update.