Laptop restarted unexpectedly while I was working on excel. How can I recover

If your laptop restarted unexpectedly while working on Excel, you may be able to recover your file through the following steps:

1. AutoRecover Feature: Excel has an AutoRecover feature that saves your work at regular intervals. When you reopen Excel after a crash, it usually shows a Document Recovery pane with any recovered files. Check this pane to see if your file is listed.
2. Temporary Files: If the Document Recovery pane does not show your file, you can check the folder where Excel saves temporary files. Look for files with the extension .xlsb or .tmp in the following locations:
   • For Windows: C:\Users\YourUsername\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Office\UnsavedFiles
   • For Mac: /Users/YourUsername/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Excel/Data/Library/Preferences/AutoRecovery
3. Check Recent Files: Open Excel and go to the "File" menu, then select "Open" and look for the "Recent" section to see if your file appears there.
4. Recover Unsaved Workbooks: In Excel, go to "File" > "Open" > "Recent" and look for the option "Recover Unsaved Workbooks" at the bottom of the list. This may allow you to find a version of your file that was not saved.
5. Backup Files: If you have a backup solution in place (like OneDrive or another cloud service), check there to see if a previous version of your file is available.

If none of these methods work, you may need to recreate the lost work based on what you remember.

Hello Caroline,

Thank you for reaching out, Caroline I understand how frustrating it can be to lose progress on your work especially when you were actively working on an Excel file. Unexpected restarts can happen due to system updates or hardware issues and fortunately Excel provides several ways to help you recover unsaved work.

Aside from the initial solution you mentioned, another option is to check the AutoRecover folder directly. Excel automatically saves temporary versions of your files in a specific location even if the Document Recovery pane does not appear. On Windows you can navigate to C:\Users\YourUsername\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Office\UnsavedFiles and on Mac, you can check /Users/YourUsername/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Excel/Data/Library/Preferences/AutoRecovery. Look for files with extensions like .xlsb or .tmp, as these may contain your recent changes. Once you locate the file open it in Excel and save it with a new name to avoid losing it again.

I hope this answer is helpful if you have further questions feel free to reply back

Regards,

Marcelo

Hello Caroline,

You’re most welcome, I’m glad I could help if you run into any other issues or have more questions about Excel or your system, feel free to reach out anytime.

Wishing you smooth and productive work ahead.

Regards,

Marcelo