In daily office, Microsoft Excel is an important tool for us to process data and prepare reports. However, due to various reasons, such as accidentally closing the program, sudden computer reboot or power failure, etc., the Excel files that are being edited but not yet saved may be lost. When encountering this situation, you do not have to be too anxious. This article will introduce some practical ways to help you of how to recover Excel file not saved.
Method 1: How to Recover Excel File Not Saved with AutoRecover
In Excel, there is a feature called “AutoRecover”, which can automatically save your documents in case of failure. To enable this feature, please follow the steps below:
- Open the Excel application.
- Click on the “File” menu in the upper left corner.
- Select “Options” to open the “Excel Options” dialog box.
- In the left menu, select “Save”.
- In the right pane, find the “Save Workbook” section, check the “Save AutoRecover information every [time interval] minutes” check box, and set a suitable time interval (for example, 5 minutes).
- Click “OK” to save the changes.
If you have enabled AutoRecover, you can try the following steps to recover data when you encounter problems with unsaved files:
- Restart the Excel application.
- In the open window, click the “File” menu in the upper left corner.
- Select the “Info” tab.
- In the right pane, locate and click on the drop-down arrow next to the Manage Workbook button.
- From the drop-down list, select “Restore Unsaved Workbook”.
- In the pop-up dialog box, select the version of the file you want to restore, and then click “Open”.
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Method 2: Find through the Temporary Files
When Excel crashes or closes abnormally, it usually creates temporary files in the background for recovery. How to recover Excel file not saved? These files usually have a .tmp or .xlsm extension and are stored in the same location as the original file.
Temporary files are usually located in one of the following paths:
- C:\Users[username]\AppData\Local\Temp
- C:\Users[Username]\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Excel
In these folders, you can look for files with the “~” symbol or the “.tmp” extension. These may be temporary backups of your lost files. Double-click on these files to see if you can recover the data. If you find the right file, copy it to another location and rename it to a normal Excel file format (.xlsx or .xls) and try to open it.
Method 3: Use the Backup to Retrieve
If Excel enabled AutoRecover, you may be able to find the backup file under the AutoRecover path set by the system:
- Find the computer “Documents \Microsoft\Excel\AutoRecover” folder (the specific path may vary depending on the operating system and Excel version).
- In the folder, look for files containing unsaved work.
Method 4: Use Professional Excel Recovery Software
If the above methods are unable to retrieve unsaved Excel files, you can consider using professional data recovery software, such as MTM File Recovery, which is capable of scanning and searching for residual data, and effectively helps you retrieve the contents of lost Excel files. Here are the detailed steps of how to recover Excel file not saved:
- Download and install MTM File Recovery software. Visit MTM File Recovery official website to get the latest version of the software installation package. After downloading, double-click the installation file to install it and follow the prompts to complete the installation process.
- Launch MTM File Recovery After completing the installation, locate and open the MTM File Recovery application on the desktop or in the program list.
- Select one or more Excel files. At the top of the main interface of the software, click the “Add” button to select one or more unsaved Excel files that need to be recovered.
- Wait for scanning. After selecting the files, the software will start automatic deep scanning. Depending on the size of the selected partition and the amount of data, the scanning process may take a long time.
- Preview and export results. After the scanning is finished, the software will list all recoverable files. Click the “Export” button at the top of the software interface to export.
Preventive Measure
To avoid similar problems in the future, it is recommended that you save your work regularly and close all the documents you are working on before leaving the computer. Also, consider storing important files on a cloud service to easily access and recover data on any device.
Conclusion
By making reasonable use of professional Excel recovery software (MTM File Recovery), and the above-mentioned strategies, you will have a better chance of realizing how to recover Excel file not saved. To prevent similar situations from happening, it is recommended to develop the habit of saving manually regularly and enable Excel’s auto-save feature, as well as ensure the stability of the operating environment to reduce the possibility of accidental power outages or system crashes.