How To Recover Unsaved Excel Files That Were Never Saved

Introduction

Losing unsaved work in Excel can be incredibly frustrating. As someone who uses Excel daily, I’ve experienced this problem many times myself. When you don’t save your work and Excel crashes or you close the file by accident, it can feel like all your hard work has gone to waste.

The good news is that in many cases, it is possible to recover unsaved Excel files, even if you never hit save. In this article, I will explain several methods I have used to successfully restore unsaved Excel workbooks. With the right tools and techniques, you can often salvage your unsaved spreadsheets and charts.

Check Excel’s Temporary Files

The first thing to try when recovering an unsaved Excel file is to look for temporary backup files that Excel automatically creates. Excel periodically autosaves draft versions of your workbooks to temporary files as a precaution against crashes and data loss.

To recover an unsaved file using this method:

• Close Excel completely if it is currently open. You want to avoid overwriting the temporary files.
• Open File Explorer and navigate to the folder %userprofile%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Excel. This is where Excel temporarily stores workbook files.
• Search this folder for files with names that start with ~$. These are temporary backup files.
• Look for a file with a name similar to your unsaved workbook. For example, if your file was called Sales Report.xls, you might see a file like ~$Sales Report.xls.
• Double click this temporary file to open it and recover your work.

With luck, your full unsaved workbook will be restored from one of Excel’s auto-recovered versions.

Use AutoRecover Options

If the previous method does not work, your next option is to leverage Excel’s AutoRecover settings.

By default, AutoRecover is enabled in Excel and will save backup versions of your unsaved workbooks every 10 minutes. You can access these files to restore lost data.

• Click the File tab and go to Options > Save.
• Under Save workbooks, note the AutoRecover file location. This is where Excel stores AutoRecover files.
• Go to this folder (usually C:\Users\Username\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Excel).
• Search for an AutoRecovery file for your unsaved workbook. The filename will have the extension .xlk.
• Open this .xlk file to restore your unsaved data.

With the right AutoRecover file, you should be able to recover much if not all of your lost work.

Use Excel File Recovery Tools

If Excel’s built-in recovery options do not work, you may need third party software tools to rescue your unsaved workbooks. Several excellent Excel file recovery tools are available:

• Stellar Repair for Excel: This tool can repair corrupted Excel files and extract data from unsaved workbooks. It has a user-friendly interface and high success rate.

• Disk Drill: Excellent lost file recovery software with full support for Excel files. Can recover unsaved file fragments from your hard drive.

• SysTools Excel Recovery:Specialized tool that claims to recover every aspect of Excel files, including charts, values, formatting, and more.

The process varies by tool, but generally you will scan your drive, select the unsaved file, and save the recovered data to a new workbook. Be sure to use the tool’s “deep scan” or “complete recovery” mode for best results.

Contact Microsoft Support

If all else fails, get in touch with Microsoft Support and explain your situation. Especially if the lost file was very large or important, it may be possible for them to help you directly recover unsaved data from application crash logs and other forensic sources.

Microsoft’s Excel file recovery services can sometimes achieve miraculous saves, though success is not guaranteed. Still, it’s worth trying as a last resort.

Takeaways to Avoid Future Loss

Losing work in unsaved Excel files is incredibly frustrating. Use the following tips to minimize your risk going forward:

• Save your work frequently – don’t rely solely on AutoRecover to save the day.
• Stick to a single workbook – use separate workbooks or worksheets rather than piling everything into one overloaded file.
• Close Excel completely when not in use – this reduces the chance of file corruption or crashes.

Leverage cloud backup services like OneDrive – this provides an additional layer of protection and offsite access to your files.

Stay vigilant, but know that even unsaved work is often recoverable with the right tools and techniques. Don’t abandon all hope if Excel crashes without saving!