Microsoft Excel provides great help when it comes to organizing data. Countless students, workers, and business owners were aided by Excel in dire times. And we can all agree that this program is indeed reliable.
The Problem we didn’t Expect
Sometimes, Excel files can be left unsaved due to unexpected circumstances like power outages, or system errors.
And to be honest, situations like these can be stressful. Just thinking about all the hard work that you’ve spent to create that certain file has been wasted is just too much to handle.
Most people have been stuck in this annoying situation, and if you are one of them, I’m pretty sure you are looking for ways to recover unsaved Excel files. Luckily, they are all here in this article!
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Solution 1: Use Auto-Save to Recover Unsaved Excel File
Solution 2: Restore Previous Versions to Recover Unsaved Excel File
Solution 3: Use Stellar Data Recovery to Recover Unsaved Excel File
Solution 1: Use Auto-Save to Recover Unsaved Excel File
A lot of people don’t know, but an Auto-save feature is available on Excel. This can help you recover unsaved excel files without using any other programs.
But keep in mind that this will only work if you enabled the feature beforehand. But if you are not sure whether you turned on the feature or not, well there’s no harm in trying.
- Launch Excel and access the File tab.
- From there, click Open then select the Recent tab.
- Scroll down and find the Recover Unsaved Workbooks option and click on it.
- This folder is the Excel autosave location and you can find and recover your unsaved Excel file. To do so, select the target file and hit Open.
Precaution: Prevent Losing Files! Here’s How to Enable Auto-Save
Now if you did not enable that auto-save feature the solution above will not work for you. But it’s not too late, you can still save your upcoming files by setting up the feature now. Here’s how to do it.
- Open Excel and open the File tab.
- Access Options and select the Save tab.
- Locate the Auto Recover option and mark the checkbox. From there you can set a time frame and the Excel autosave location.
- Once an error occurs and Excel is forcibly closed, your spreadsheet should be recovered.
Solution 2: Restore Previous Versions to Recover Unsaved Excel File
If you are editing an old file and the recent changes were not saved, you can try restoring Excel file to the previous version. Although you can’t recover all the changes made, it’s still better than losing all the contents of your spreadsheet.
- After the crash of the power outage, open Excel, and on the left side panel you will see the last edited files.
- Select the one you want to recover and it will appear on the Excel automatically.
- After that, save the file with a different name.
If you can’t see the recovery panel and don’t know where to see excel recovered files, you can directly open a folder where the recovered excel files are stored and access the recovery panel.
- Open the File tab.
- Find the Show Recovered Files button, and the recovery panel should appear.
Hold Up! – The Solutions may not Work
The solutions above are Excel’s built-in features to help its users regain their unsaved work. Some people are satisfied with what these features can offer, but it doesn’t always work that way.
You see, the Auto-save version will not restore all the contents of your file. The feature saves progress in a certain time frame and only the changes made inside that time frame will be recovered. Meaning there is a chance that the recent changes made will not be retrieved.
Also, due to system errors and power issues, there is a high chance that your unsaved file will most likely become corrupted. If this will be the case, your file will be of no use and you will have to start all over again.
But don’t panic just yet, we still have one more solution to recover an unsaved excel file that will surely blow your mind.
Solution 3: Use Stellar Data Recovery to Recover Unsaved Excel File
Looking for the best solution to recover an unsaved Excel file is not easy. You will find easy-to-execute methods, but they will give unsatisfying results. Lucky for you, we found one solution that will easily and successfully recover unsaved Excel file without any hassle.
Stellar Data Recovery is a program with features dedicated to retrieving your lost, deleted, or unsaved Excel files including other Microsoft Office features like Word, PowerPoint, etc. With this tool, you don’t need to try out a bunch of methods just to recover unsaved Excel files; Stellar can do the job within seconds!
Aside from recovering documents, this tool is pretty flexible as it can revive deleted photos, videos, audio, and a lot more! This tool is also built with a user-friendly interface and is perfect for any kind of user. How amazing is that?
To add up, Stellar Data Recovery helps you check and monitor your drive’s health and make sure everything is good to keep your data safe. Wow! Thanks, Stellar!
A lot of features are waiting if you use Stellar Data Recovery. So don’t think twice and grab this tool now!
Steps to Recover Unsaved Excel File via Stellar Data Recovery
Step 1: Hit the button above to download and install Stellar Data Recovery on your PC.
Step 2: Launch the program and select the type of data you want to recover. In this case, tick Office Documents and hit Next.
Step 3: Choose the drive you want to recover from and turn on the Deep Scan option and click Scan.
Step 4: After a few moments, your data will appear. Select the ones you want to restore then hit Restore.
After those easy steps, you can have your files back again! How convenient.
Ending Note
Thanks to the solutions above, we don’t have to waste time and retype our spreadsheets. We can easily recover them even if unexpected moments happen.