What is AutoRecover in Excel and how does it work in Excel?

AutoRecover in Excel can be life saver when you shut down your file without paying attention to saving. Or it can save you from losing your work if your computer shutdowns or there is a power outage. By default, AutoRecover saves your work every 10 minutes. Now, we will show you how to enable and set up this function in Excel.

autorecovery in excel: How to AutoRecover in Excel

Ok let’s learn Excel AutoRecover feature and how to configure it to save your work automatically. Here you can see some other benefits of using AutoRecover and how to solve errors in case of any problems.

What is auto recover interval and how does it work in Excel

AutoRecover is a feature for itself, or it is Excel’s own safety net. It automatically saves a copy of your workbook every 10 minutes. So if Excel crashes or you lose power, you can pick up where you left off.

If you wanna use AutoRecover, you can just make sure it is turned on. To do this, you should go to File > Options > Save. Then, when you go under Save workbooks, you should select the Automatically save every _ minutes check box. Excel will then save your workbook automatically at the interval you write there.

Is it document recovery excel?

If Excel crashes or you lose power, you will open Excel and go to File > Open. Then, in the Open dialog box, you will click the folder next to the Look in drop-down arrow. This will open the Recent Workbooks folder. And this contains all the Excel files that were open when Excel closed last time.

Here in the list if applicable of course, you should find the file you were working on and click it to select it. And then you will click Open. So that, Excel will open the file and take you back to where you left off.

autorecovery in excel

So there you have it! AutoRecover is a simple tool with only one function. But it can prevent disasters from happening. Such as losing a file you worked on for hours and forgot to save. What would you do if there is no excel autorecover? You cannot catch the deadline for sure. So this default function can help you avoid losing work if Excel crashes or you can name any other unexpected but possible situations. For your safety, you should just make sure it’s turned on. And you will be protected in case of a sudden shutdown.

How to enable AutoRecover in Excel files

1. Here, you can open Excel and then, you will click on the File tab in the ribbon.

2. After, click Options and in these options, you will click Save in the left pane.

3.  So here is the thing, you should check the box next to “Save AutoRecover information every _ minutes.”

4. All you need is to enter the number of minutes between save intervals. Or you can use 10 minutes as default.

5. Lastly, click OK to close the Excel Options and enable AutoRecover for your Excel files.

How to recover an Excel file: auto save excel

1. Firstly, go and open Excel and click on the File tab at top to find open.
2. Here on, you will click the folder next to the Look in drop-down . This will open the Recent Workbooks folder. And this folder contains all the Excel files that were open when Excel last closed.
3. Now, you should find the file you were working on and click it for opening. Excel will open the file and take you back to where you left off.

If the file you are looking for isn’t in the Recent Workbooks folder, it may be possible to recover it from a backup or previous version. For more information on how to do this, you can look at Excel’s Help documentation.

Tips for preventing data loss in Excel

1. Of course you should save your Excel files regularly because even AutoRecover is a great safety net, it is not foolproof. If Excel crashes or you lose power before the AutoRecover interval, you could lose unsaved work. To avoid this, get in the habit of manually saving your workbook often.
2. With Excel backup feature, you can create copy of your workbook. So that you can use it to restore lost or corrupted data. In case you want this option running, you should follow this path: File > Save As and select the Create Backup option.
3. Excel’s version control feature can let you track and compare different versions of a workbook. This can be helpful if you need to go to a previous version or if you want to see how your workbook has changed over time. In case you wanna use version control, you should go to File > Info and click the “Manage Versions” button.
4. There are many different programs to help you backup and recover lost data. Some of these programs are free while for others, you should pay a fee.
5. And also you can save your Excel files to a cloud-based storage service. So you can access your files from anywhere and will protect your data in case of a computer failure. Popular cloud-based storage services include Dropbox, Google Drive, and iCloud.

AutoRecover in Excel: Last Words

These can help you but as a rule, you should save often, create backups and use version control to track your changes.

Excel is a powerful tool, but it’s not perfect. AutoRecover in Excel is a useful thing and it can help you recover lost work. But of course, it is not foolproof. Data loss can still occur if Excel crashes or if you lose power before the AutoRecover interval.

And if you are ever in doubt, you can read and consult Excel’s Help documentation for more information.