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EL12121
Copper Contributor
Jun 18, 2024

Recover Unsaved Work after Reinstalling Excel

I had a couple unsaved workbooks that were recovered when I had to restart Excel (good).  Randomly, however, my excel program disappeared from my computer (bad).  Unclear how this happened. I reinstalled excel.  Now, I cannot find those unsaved workbooks (even though they were recoverable before).  I recognize not saving work is a terrible practice. Nevertheless, any ideas on where I can find those unsaved workbooks? 

 

Thanks!

1 Reply

  • 1. Check AutoRecover Files
    Excel's AutoRecover feature saves temporary copies of your workbooks periodically. To check if you can find your unsaved workbooks:

    Open Excel:
    Start Excel and go to the File tab.
    Access AutoRecover Files:
    Go to Info and look for the Manage Workbook section.
    Click on Recover Unsaved Workbooks.
    This should open a folder where Excel may have saved unsaved files.
    Look in the AutoRecover Folder:
    Open Excel.
    Go to File > Options > Save.
    Look for the AutoRecover file location. Navigate to this folder on your computer and see if your files are there.
    2. Check the Temporary Files Folder
    Sometimes, unsaved files are saved in the system's temporary files directory.

    Open File Explorer.
    Navigate to the Temp Folder:
    Type %temp% in the File Explorer address bar and press Enter.
    Look for files with names starting with ~$ or Excel and check if they match your unsaved workbooks.

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