Does Excel use temporary files when modify?

[Alex Ortiz]

Hi,

Some times occur you modify a worksheet, then when you save, Excel freezes
(like some other cases for Excel to lock). You can just kill Excel and then
continue working, but then you loose all your changes.

Then my question is: Does Excel keep a temporal copy of your worksheet with
your changes? Like Word does, you know it because of the file with "~"
prefix.

It's very dificult to say a user that he lost all the changes made.

I'll appreciate any idea.

Regards,
Alex

 

[mudraker]

Excel does have a AutoSave addin.

If it has been installed it will be listed under the Tools menu.

Search Help for AutoSave to find out mor

 

[Gord Dibben]

Alex

Yes, all versions of Excel keep a temporary file while you are working on the
file.

When Excel closes normally, this temporary file is deleted(usually).

When Excel crashes, the temporary file is not deleted.

Recovery from this file is normally not possible. You can find it but I have
never been able to open one even after changing the extension.

If you have Excel 2002 you can use the AutoRecovery feature which will present
you with the temporary file to recover after you re-start Excel.

Earlier versions had the AutoSave Add-in which saved at increments(in minutes)
so's you didn't lose all modifications.

Gord Dibben Excel MVP