Q: How do I store MS Office 2016 content in my iCloud drive?

If you have a Microsoft Office 365 subscription (includes Office 2016 for Mac) then you have Microsoft's OneDrive cloud storage available to you instead.  Microsoft Office applications on Mac OS, iOS, and Windows are specifically designed to easily save files to OneDrive, similarly to the way that Apple software prefers iCloud storage.

Unfortunately, each modern cloud provider like Apple, Microsoft, and Google make it easy to use their own cloud storage solution, but not other's.  Apple's iCloud in particular is not very (yet) very flexible and really only supports native Apple applications well.

Arguably, the most flexible cloud storage solution has been DropBox for many years as they have been a major cloud player for many years and therefore are supported in the majority of major iOS apps and from Mac OS.

You can easily save files directly from Microsoft Office to iCloud Drive.

First open Finder, then Finder Preferences and click on Sidebar at the top of the Preferences window and place a checkmark in front of iCloud Drive in the Favorites section (if it isn't already).

If you are saving a file in Word, for example, click iCloud Drive in the sidebar in the Save dialog and then save the document to that location like you would to any other folder on your Mac. Anything saved there will automatically be synced to iCloud.

If you have existing files already saved to other folders on your Mac, you can move them from their current folder to the iCloud Drive folder in the same way that you would move them to any other location (i.e., drag and drop, cut and paste, etc)

I had to come up with a different solution so that i can save files directly from Microsoft Office Word 2016 to my iCloud drive.  I created a new folder in my iCloud  drive and then created an alias of that folder.  I moved the alias to the desktop.  Since the "save as" option in Word does not show the iCloud drive but shows the desktop as a location for saving, I save the file in the alias on the desktop for the folder on the iCloud drive.  It has worked for several files so far. It would have been nice if Office 2016 was a little more finder friendly.

Don Bullock jr wrote:

 

...  Since the "save as" option in Word does not show the iCloud drive but shows the desktop as a location for saving, I save the file in the alias on the desktop for the folder on the iCloud drive.  It has worked for several files so far. It would have been nice if Office 2016 was a little more finder friendly.

I'm using Word version 15.17.1 (Office For Mac 2016) and iCloud Drive displays in both the Save and the Save As.

I have iCloud Drive selected in Finder > Preferences > Sidebar.

Also, if I create a new folder in iCloud Drive and then drag that folder to the Favorites section of the Finder Sidebar, the new folder displays in the sidebar in both the Save and Save As of Word.

I have Office 365 and have always had iCloud Drive in the sidebar. I don't have the pro version. I'll explore more to see if there is a difference in versions when it comes to saving to iCloud Drive.  I can save to any hard rice and files on a hard drive but the only cloud options in save as are microsoft's options.

Office 365 Personal is what I have as well -- although that is just Microsoft's name for the subscription method of payment and does not indicate the version. Even older versions of Office for Mac 2016 have allowed me to save directly to iCloud Drive by clicking in the sidebar in the Word Save and Save As dialog.

You stated that "the only cloud options in save as are microsoft's options." -- that may be the issue. To save to iCloud Drive if you have selected "Online Locations" in the Save dialog you will need to click "On My Mac" and then you should see iCloud Drive in the sidebar. iCloud Drive is a hidden folder on your Mac and anything saved to it is then automatically synced to iCloud. That isn't a Microsoft issue -- it is an Apple one.