How to recover an unsaved Excel file

First: don't make it worse

Before anything else, don't save a new file over the old name, and don't keep working in the same workbook hoping to fix it later. Each save can replace the copy you're trying to get back. Open Excel, try the steps below in order, and save anything you recover under a new name such as Budget-recovered.xlsx until you've checked it.

Recovery depends on AutoRecover, which quietly saves a backup copy every 10 minutes by default. It's not the same as saving: it keeps a temporary copy so Excel has something to offer after a crash. If AutoRecover never ran on your file, there's nothing for Excel to bring back.

1. After a crash: the Document Recovery pane

When Excel closes unexpectedly, open it again. A Document Recovery pane on the left lists the files it rescued, each with a time and a note such as Version created from the last AutoRecover or Original. Click the version to open it, check it, and save it with File > Save As.

If you close the pane without saving, Excel asks whether you want to keep the files for later. Pick yes if you're not sure, so you can come back to them.

2. A new workbook you never saved

Excel keeps AutoRecover drafts of unsaved new workbooks for a few days. The drafts are named with a code rather than your title, so look at the date and time.

1. In Excel, go to File > Info > Manage Workbook > Recover Unsaved Workbooks. (File > Open also has a Recover Unsaved Workbooks button below the recent files list.)
2. A folder opens with the drafts. Pick the one with the right date and time and click Open.
3. Excel shows a yellow bar: Recovered unsaved file. Click Save As and give it a proper name and folder.

3. You saved it once, then lost the latest changes

If you closed a saved workbook and clicked Don't Save, open the workbook and go to File > Info. Under Manage Workbook, Excel lists versions it kept, such as one marked (when I closed without saving). Open it and click Restore in the bar at the top, or Save As to keep both.

This only works if Keep the last AutoRecovered version if I close without saving is ticked in File > Options > Save, and only if AutoRecover had saved since your last real save. If you worked for five minutes with a ten-minute interval, the change may not be in any copy.

4. Saved over good data: Version History

For a workbook stored in OneDrive or SharePoint, every save keeps a version. Go to File > Info > Version History (or click the file name in the title bar and choose Version History). Earlier versions open alongside your file; copy what you need, or click Restore to roll the whole workbook back.

For a file on your own PC or a network drive, Version History isn't available. If your PC or company runs backups, right-click the file in File Explorer and choose Properties > Previous Versions to see whether a backup copy exists. A deleted file may still be in the Recycle Bin, or the OneDrive recycle bin for OneDrive files.

Set it up so it doesn't happen again

Go to File > Options > Save. Tick Save AutoRecover information every, and lower the number from 10 minutes to 5 if you work on large changes between saves. Tick Keep the last AutoRecovered version if I close without saving. The AutoRecover file location box shows where the backups go; leave it as it is unless you have a reason to change it.

Better still, save important workbooks to OneDrive or SharePoint and turn on AutoSave with the switch in the top-left corner. AutoSave saves every few seconds, and Version History keeps the older copies, so a bad edit is a restore, not a rebuild. And press Ctrl+S often: no setting replaces a real save.

On a Mac, Excel reopens recovered files automatically when you start it after a crash, and the same AutoRecover and AutoSave settings live under Excel > Preferences > Save (Excel > Settings on newer versions).