How to Repair an Unsaved Excel File That Can't Be Recovered (2024 Tricks)

How to Recover an Unsaved Excel File:

1. Go to the "File" tab > "Open." 2. Select the most recent Excel worksheet. 3. At the bottom of the list, scroll down and click on the "Recover Unsaved Workbooks" button. 4. When the dialog box appears, choose the desired Excel file from the list, then click "Open."

If you forget to save an Excel file on your Windows PC and find that the unsaved Excel file is not in the recovery, you can easily recover unsaved Excel files with the steps below.

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How to Recover Unsaved Excel Files on Windows 11/10/8/7

It happens to all of us – you're working on an important Excel file, and Microsoft Excel crashes without saving. Or, worse yet, your computer crashes, and you lose all your unsaved changes. Suddenly, it seems like all your work is gone for good. But there's still hope! In many cases, you can recover a lost Excel file. Fortunately, you can try several different methods to recover a crashed Excel file.

Let's see how these Excel recovery methods work.

Method 1: Unsaved Excel File Not in the Recent Files List? Try a Third-party Tool

Losing an unsaved and unrecoverable Excel file can be frustrating, especially when you've spent a lot of time working on it. However, there's still hope – you can use third-party data recovery software to attempt to recover your XLSX or XLS files. These programs scan your hard drive for any unsaved Excel data and attempt to restore it when possible. One of the most popular tools available is the Data Recovery Wizard.

With it, you can recover deleted Excel files and run Excel repair after the recovery. It supports various file types, making it possible to recover CSV files, Excel sheets, Word documents, photos, videos, and more. Keep reading to use file recovery software for Excel recovery after being forced to quit due to frozen Excel.

Step 1: Run tools Data Recovery Wizard on your computer. Select the disk where you lost unsaved files and click "Scan".

Select the location, then click on “Scan”.

< strong > Step 2. On the left, you will see the "Path" and "Type" tabs. Click on "Type" and select "Unsaved Files". You can double-click on the folder to open it or click "Open". This unsaved file recovery software will help you easily recover unsaved Word, Excel, PPT, and other files.

Select the unsaved file

Step 3. Select the files you want to recover and click the "Preview" button. After that, hit "Restore" to retrieve your unsaved files. Make sure not to restore the files to their original location as this might overwrite them.

Tool for Data Recovery Software is an excellent option to recover unsaved/deleted Excel files or to restore corrupted Excel files. Read the online guide for complete information on how to recover deleted Excel files. Don't forget to share this software with those who need to recover unsaved files.

Method 2: Recover an Unsaved Excel File from the TEMP Folder

Temporary files serve as backups. If you're unable to find your unsaved Excel file during a recovery, you can restore the temporary file. You may be able to recover an unsaved Excel file from a worksheet, but it could still be present on one of your disks. Just access the correct path to the TEMP folder to view your lost Excel file.

You can go to the following locations to find the temp Excel file location:

C:\Users\[Username]\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Office\UnsavedFiles

Alternatively, you can try to recover the file using the guide below.

Step 1: Open Excel, click the "File" tab, and then click "Info" > "Manage Workbooks." From the drop-down menu, select "Recover Unsaved Workbooks."

Step 2: Navigate to the unsaved file and click on the "Open" dialog box. Next, in the pop-up window, select "Save As" to recover the file.

Select unsaved files

Method 3: Recover an Unsaved Excel File from AutoRecover

If the unsaved Excel file is not in the Recovery folder, your next best bet is the Microsoft Office AutoSave folder. From this point on, you should be able to locate and open the unsaved file. This option may not be available if you have disabled the AutoSave feature in Excel, which you can do as described in < ahref="/data-recovery-solution/disable-autosave-in-word-excel.html">this guide</a>.

Step 1: Open the Excel program and click the "File" tab, then click "Open" and finally "Recover Unsaved Workbooks" at the bottom.

Step 2. Locate the unsaved Excel file that you lost, then double-click it to open in Excel. Next, click on the “Save As” button to recover your unsaved Excel file.

Step 3: Open Excel, and click "File" then "Options." In the navigation pane on the left, click "Save." Change the time in "Save AutoRecover information every xx minutes," and click "OK." Remember to open the file again to check that your Excel file has been saved.

It's also possible to recover unsaved Excel files on a Mac. You can use a similar method to recover an unsaved Excel file from 2022:

Method 3: Recover Unsaved or Lost Excel Files on Mac

This post offers 2 ways to help you restore unsaved Excel documents lost on Mac from the temp folder and Auto Save. Read More >>

Many Mac users have vouched for the effectiveness of these solutions. If any of these methods help you recover a lost Excel file or data lost due to an Excel crash, do share on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and more!

Method 4: Recover an Unsaved File from Excel's AutoRecover

Suppose you were working on an Excel file and saved it but the Excel or Microsoft system crashed, or there was a power outage before your latest changes could be saved. In such a case, you can find your unsaved Excel file, not in a 'Recover' option, but through the 'Document Recovery' feature.

If the file was saved at least once before it disappeared from your computer, you might be able to recover the last AutoSaved Excel file. Follow this guide to restore an unsaved Excel file on Windows 10 and other systems.

Step 1: Open the Excel program, locate the “Recover” option, and click on “Show Recovered Files.”

The unsaved files should appear in the **Document Recovery** pane. Open the Excel file you need and save it.

Method 5: Restore a Previous Version of an Unsaved Excel File

If you accidentally deleted or made changes to an Excel file that you want to undo, you can use File History to restore a previous version of your Excel data. Make sure that File History is enabled, then follow the steps below to recover your Excel data.

Step 1. Find your file in File Explorer.

Step 2: Right-click the file and select “Previous versions” to see if any previous versions were saved.

Another window will appear where you can view any available previous versions. If you don't have File History turned on, haven't created a Restore Point, or don't have an updated version of the Excel file, you won't be able to recover your unsaved Excel file this way.

The best way to recover unsaved Excel files is by using the best Microsoft Office file recovery software - Data Recovery Wizard tool.

Common Reasons for an Unsaved Excel File Being Unrecoverable

Any business owner or manager knows that data is crucial to a company's success. Without accurate and up-to-date information, it's hard to make informed decisions about how to allocate resources or set prices. Excel files are often used to store such critical data, as they provide a convenient way to organize and process large amounts of information. However, data loss in Excel can occur for various reasons.

Regardless of the reason, losing Excel data can have serious consequences. It can lead not only to decreased productivity but also to revenue and customer loss. This is why Excel recovery is so important, and why you might need to find and recover unsaved Excel files if necessary.

Preventative Measures for Unsaved Excel Issues - Auto-Save

Anyone who has ever lost an important Excel spreadsheet can attest to the seriousness of data loss. Whether it's due to a power outage, system crash, or user error, the consequences of losing valuable data can be severe. This is why enabling AutoSave in Excel is so important.

Excel's AutoSave feature periodically saves a copy of your workbook to ensure you have a backup in case of an accident. To turn it on, click the “File” tab and select “Options.” In the “Save” category, check the box next to “Save AutoRecover information every _ minutes.”

You can also choose how often Excel saves your workbook by changing the number of minutes in the text box. In addition to enabling AutoSave, there are a few other steps you can take to avoid issues with recovering unsaved Excel files.

1. Save your workbook frequently.

While Excel automatically saves your workbook, it's still a good idea to save manually from time to time. This ensures that your most recent changes are always saved.

2. Backup your workbook.

In addition to saving your workbooks regularly, it's a good idea to back up your workbooks periodically. This way, you have an extra copy of your data that you can use to restore your Excel files easily if something happens to the original.

3. Backup your files before modifying them.

That way, if something does go wrong with your file, you have a backup.

4. Save Excel files in various formats

Finally, it's always a good idea to save your files in multiple formats. If an Excel file becomes corrupted or unreadable, you'll still have access to your data in another format.

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Conclusions

Excel is a powerful tool for organizing and analyzing data, but it's also easy to lose your work in it. If you accidentally close a workbook without saving it, or your computer crashes while you're editing a file, you can use Excel's AutoRecover feature to get your work back. To maximize your chances of recovering unsaved Excel work, make sure AutoRecover is turned on, and know where your recovery files are saved. With any luck, you'll be able to get your work back.

How to recover unsaved Excel files? FAQ

Here's an additional question regarding recovering unsaved Excel files. You can find the answer here.

1. How to recover unsaved Excel files that are not in the Recent Files list?

Follow these steps to recover any unsaved Excel files.

1. Open a new Excel workbook. 2. Go to "File" > "Open." 3. Click on the "Recent" option in the top-left corner. 4. Tap on the "Recover Unsaved Workbooks" button at the bottom. 5. Scroll through the list of unsaved workbooks and open the one you need.

2. Why isn't AutoRecover working in Excel?

If the user forgets to enable this feature, AutoRecover won't run, and Excel files won't be saved automatically when the program is closed. It's therefore a good idea to check that the checkboxes next to “Save AutoRecover information every ___ minutes” and “Keep the last automatic save version if I don't save before quitting” are ticked.

3. How to recover unsaved Excel 2007 files?

For Excel or PowerPoint, choose File > Info > Manage Document > Recover Unsaved Workbooks or Recover Unsaved Presentations. Select a file, then click Open. To save the file, choose Save As from the bar at the top of the document.