Autosave not working - no files are there

Anonymous
2014-01-12T05:27:19+00:00

I use autosave and have it set for every time minutes. I had a workbook open and was inputting data for many hours. I saw the taskbar show it autosave many, many times until it crashed. When I reopened excel, it reverted back to the last user saved version which was several hours old. I searched for the autorecover files, but they are the same old file. When I tried opening one, I get the error that happeend when it crashed - it says 'Excel cannot complete the task with available resources. Choose less data or close other application" (this was the error when it crashed in the first place)

I have plenty or memory available on my computer

I really need this fixed. Autosave does me no good if I can't recover my files.

Microsoft 365 and Office | Excel | For home | Windows

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments

51 answers

Sort by: Most helpful
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2018-01-14T23:28:15+00:00

    this has been broken forever. Microsuck will never fix because they don't care!

    Was this answer helpful?

    2 people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2017-10-03T01:03:23+00:00

    Equating a "10 minute" setting with AutoSave demonstrates a lack of understanding of the feature.

    It is important to differentiate and use the proper terminology in our discussions. AutoSave and AutoRecover are two DIFFERENT technologies. Heck, even Microsoft can't keep it straight in their own documentation - so it's no wonder anybody is confused.

    AutoSave is a new feature that works in conjunction with OneDrive and SharePoint sites to continuously save and share your file - when you have an Office 365 subscription. It is different from the legacy technology called "AutoRecover" which saves your file periodically depending on the setting you have set in options. In your case, "10 minutes."

    When AutoSave is ON, AutoRecover is OFF. AutoSave saves your document every few seconds, and creates a new revision history every 10 to 15 minutes based on your version history settings in OneDrive / SharePoint. AutoRecover saves your document every several minutes only when you have been completely idle in the file (this is clearly not right but this has been proven during testing, maybe a bug, but still fact). So much as clicking on another worksheet will start the timer over before AutoRecover saves a copy.

    When AutoSave is ON the File -> Save As and File -> Save are removed. Why? Because your file is always being saved - continuously.

    AutoSaved previous versions of a file are accessed from the TITLE BAR in Excel or from the OneDrive / SharePoint web portal. AutoRecovered documents are located from File -> Info -> Manage Workbook.

    Now, I'm not saying there aren't bugs or issues here. But, unless the two distinct technologies and the proper expectation from both of them is fully understood we will continue to blame the software when there is really just a misunderstanding about the features and how they work.

    What is AutoSave?

    More info on AutoSave

    Find lost or missing files in OneDrive

    Help protect your files in case of a crash

    Was this answer helpful?

    2 people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2017-10-12T18:59:19+00:00

    I have a similar problem - two Excel files - one on my c: drive, one opened from One Note.  Autosave on in both - pointed noted about differences between autosave and autorecover but the outcome was the same for both files - I went downstairs for half an hour and when I got back, Excel crashed and reloaded my original files, rather than anything that had been autosaved - an afternoon's work - gone.  

    When I tried to look for the autosaved files in the 

    C:\Users\Gillian\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Excel\

    I couldn't find anything - there didn't seem to be a Microsoft file there at all - only an Apple one.    The file had not synced back to OneNote either so 

    Back to work..

    Was this answer helpful?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  4. Anonymous
    2017-08-29T18:08:58+00:00

    The AutoSave feature you are referring to is new. It works exclusively with OneDrive and Sharepoint sites.

    So, if you are saving to OneDrive or Sharepoint, AutoSave will save every few seconds and give you a complete version history.

    This is not the same as AutoRecover which is what you are referring to in Options.

    https://www.petri.com/autosave-office-documents

    Was this answer helpful?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  5. Anonymous
    2016-03-08T01:26:36+00:00

    I now have the same problem, had autosave set to every 4 min, two hours later, inserted an excel file attachment into this document, excel crashed, message came up "no auto recovery on this session" or similar and it was right, no trace anywhere of the file.

    There are no "Auto recover exceptions" set for this file.

    No luck in any of the potential folders:

    C:\Users\Nicklas\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Excel\

    C:\Users\Nicklas\Documents\SharePoint Drafts\

    In the first folder I only have this file as saved around the time of teh crash:

    Excel15.xlb

    ****!

    Was this answer helpful?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments