How To Access Excel Autosave Files

AutoSave is a very important feature in Excel, helping users to save data when having problems. Below Gitiho will guide you how to use the AutoSave feature in Excel.

Although Excel is continually improving with each new version, sometimes you can still get errors (especially if you are working with a large data set). Sometimes that error can be caused by external factors like a power failure or your system crashes.

In such cases, to ensure there is no data loss, Excel has an AutoSave feature - as the feature's name suggests, it automatically saves your work in real time.

Compare AutoSave and AutoRecover

AutoSave is a new feature in Excel Office 365, while AutoRecover is available in earlier versions of Office.

AutoSave lets you save your work in real time when you save your Excel file in OneDrive or SharePoint.

In contrast, Save AutoRecover Information is an option that automatically saves your work every 10 minutes (or whatever interval you specify). With this option enabled, Excel creates a temporary backup of the file and resumes saving it every 10 minutes.

In the event of a sudden system shutdown, you can still restore temporarily saved Excel files (using the Autorecover feature). In this tutorial, Gitiho will cover both of these features together.

Turn on the AutoSave feature in Excel

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEjU5J2BESs

You can turn on the AutoSave feature as well as save auto-recovery information (i.e. to save files automatically at a certain interval) in Excel from the Options dialog box. Once done, this will be enabled for all future Excel files every time you work on that system.

Here are the steps to enable AutoSave in Excel:

Step 1: Access the File tab

Step 2: In the drop-down menu select the Options option

Step 3: In the Excel Options dialog box, click the Save option in the left column

Step 4: In the right pane, click the Save AutoRecover information every option. By default, the value is 10 minutes, but you can choose a lower or higher value if you want.

Step 5: Next, scroll down and select the option AutoSave OneDrive and SharePoint Online files by default in Excel. This option only works on Office 365 and saves your work in real time (every few seconds)

Step 6: Click the OK button to finish

The above steps will ensure that your work done in Excel is saved automatically every 10 minutes.

Note: If the AutoSave OneDrive and SharePoint Online files by default in Excel option is selected, the Excel files must be saved in the latest format (ie XLSX, not XLS).

Other useful options you can use:

• Keep the last AutoRecovered version if I close without saving: Although Excel saves the work in progress every 10 minutes (when AutoSave is turned on), enabling this option will ensure that you don't lose any data for a while. between those 10 minutes. When enabled, Excel displays an option to automatically restore any unsaved files / data.

• AutoRecover File Location: This is the location when Excel saves unsaved files. You can change this location if you want, but in the case of non-administrator you cannot change this.

When AutoSave is turned on (with files stored on Onedrive or SharePoint), you won't see a prompt to save unsaved changes when you close the file (because the changes are being saved every few seconds). Also, in case you are adding VBA code (macro) to an Excel file, AutoSave will stop and display a prompt to save this file as a Macro support file (.xlsm format)

AutoSave now allows Excel users to share files and make changes in real time. Plus, you can view the version history and roll back to any previous version if you want. When opening an old Excel file with version history, it will open as Read-Only and you can save the file with a new name if you want.

Add AutoSave feature to QAT (for Office 365)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bLzly5RHLI

If you're using OneDrive or SharePoint, you can also add an AutoSave option on the Quick Access Toolbar (QAT). This allows you to turn on auto save (in SharePoint or OneDrive) with just one click.

Although the AutoSave option is available by default in Office365, in case you don't see it can be added to the QAT using the steps below:

Step 1: Click the Customize Quick Access Toolbar (QAT) icon.

Step 2: In the drop-down menu select AutoSave

Step 3: In case you don't see the AutoSave option in the drop-down menu, press the More Command button and use the Excel Options dialog box to add the AutoSave option to QAT.

Notes when working with AutoSave (Save As and Save a Copy)

When AutoSave is turned on and you save the Excel file in OneDrive or SharePoint, you'll notice that Excel no longer has a Save As option. Instead it will be the Save a Copy option.

With AutoSave turned on and the job saved every few seconds, you won't be able to make some changes and save it as a new file.

For example, if you start with an old Excel file, work on it for 20 minutes and save a copy, you will have the old Excel file as well as the new file with the last 20 minutes of work. But this cannot be done with the AutoSave feature enabled as it saves your work every few seconds.

This is why Excel has a Save a Copy option, which you can use to make a copy and then make changes. In the event that your Excel file isn't on OneDrive or SharePoint, you'll still see the Save As option.

Use third-party tools like DropBox or Google Drive

You can also get version history options for Excel files with storage options like Dropbox and Google Drive. These tools just check if there is any change in the file and save the previous version. You can then revert to these versions if you wish.

One of the benefits of using these third-party tools is that you can collaborate easily with people who don't use OneDrive.

Since Google Drive and Dropbox are often preferred by more people than OneDrive, this will be very helpful when you work with teams or customers who use these options.

Automatically save files before closing with VBA

AutoSave is a nice addition to making working with Excel a lot easier. But if you don't have Office 365 (which means you don't have AutoSave either) you have to rely on Excel's AutoRecover feature.

Another option you can use is to use simple VBA code to make sure your file is saved before closing. This ensures you don't lose your work because you closed the file before saving it.

Note: This only makes sense if you're not using Office 365 with OneDrive or SharePoint.

Here are the steps to use VBA to save a file before closing it:

Step 1: Open the Excel file that you want to enable this VBA code to save before closing.

Step 2: Hold down the ALT key and press F11 (or Command + Option + F11 on the Mac). This will open the VB Editor window.

Step 3: Double-click the ThisWorkbook object (for the Excel file you want to add this code) in Project Explorer

Step 4: Copy and paste the following code into the ThisWorkbook code window:

Private Sub Workbook_BeforeClose(Cancel As Boolean)
ThisWorkbook.Save
End Sub

Step 5: Close the text editor

Now, when there is any change in the Excel file and you close before saving, this VBA code will first run to save the file and then close the actual file.

In case you have not saved the Excel file before, it will ask to choose where to save the file. In case you do not want to overwrite an existing file, you can also modify the code to save the file with a timestamp. This way, your work won't be lost and it's also possible to revert to a previous version as needed.

Below is the VBA code that will save file with date and time stamp in file name:

Private Sub Workbook_BeforeClose(Cancel As Boolean)
wbname = ThisWorkbook.Name
timestamp = Format(Now, "ddmmmyyy-hhmmss")
ThisWorkbook.SaveAs timestamp & wbname
End Sub

This will save the new file with a timestamp in the name in the same location where the old file was saved. If you want the file to be saved in a specific folder, you can specify that location in the code.

Gitiho has just introduced everything you should know about how to enable AutoSave in Excel and use it effectively. If you don't use Office 365 and don't have the AutoSave feature, you can still configure AutoRecover options and recover any unsaved files. Also, VBA code can be used to make sure files are saved as duplicates automatically when you turn off files.

Soure: Blebees.com

source https://blebees.com/access-excel-autosave-files/