# It's an Engineering decision That simplifies and complements some of the [features][1] Google docs boasts about - Real-time Collaboration - Offline editing - Revision history - Cloud storage ...allowing the user to focus only about writing/editing the content while the technology ensures that their precious content is always preserved. **Content you [edit on the document][2] is streamed into the server and to other collaborators (at real-time)**. A save button here is meaningless as every keystroke is recorded on the go from every collaborator. The same principles applies when you go offline, except the content is streamed into a local cache and uploaded into the cloud storage when the devices is online again. If you've had collaborators edit the document in the meantime, then their versioning systems lets you easily resolve any conflicts. From Wikipedia, > Autosave is a function in many computer applications or programs which > saves an opened document automatically, helping to reduce the risk or > impact of data loss in case of a crash or freeze. **Autosaving is > typically done either in predetermined intervals or before a complex > editing task is begun**. I **wouldn't use the term autosave to describe what google docs does**, fundamentally it's the same as autosave but under the hood its the successor of autosave where data is saved or accurately put - "streamed" into the storage area for every keystroke and interaction. It even goes the extra mile to mark where yours and the collaborators cursors are and what you've/they've highlighted. Think of it as watching a screen (but include privacy) when you/they edit a document. Simply put, you can still lose data with autosave, but with streaming: nothing's lost. *I can edit the answer to add the details on the engineering behind this if need be but **@JeromeR's** reply should be more than sufficient in explaining these concepts to a layman or non-tech person* [1]: https://support.google.com/docs/answer/2494891?hl=en [2]: https://support.google.com/docs/answer/40626?hl=en