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Excel 2007 offers a document recovery feature that can help you in the event of a computer crash because of a power failure or some sort of operating system freeze or shutdown. The AutoRecover feature saves your workbooks at regular intervals. In the event of a computer crash, Excel displays a Document Recovery task pane the next time you start Excel after rebooting the computer.
Changing the save interval
 | When you first start using Excel 2007, the AutoRecover feature is set to automatically save changes to your workbook (provided that the file has already been saved) every ten minutes. To shorten or lengthen this interval, follow these steps: |
1. Click Office Button --> Excel Options --> Save or press Alt+FIS to open the Excel Options dialog box with the Save tab selected.
2. Use the spinner buttons or enter a new automatic save interval into the text box marked Save AutoRecover Information Every 10 Minutes, and click OK.
Recovering a workbook
The Document Recovery task pane shows the available versions of the workbook files that were open at the time of the computer crash. It identifies the original version of the workbook file and when it was saved along with the recovered version of the file and when it was saved.
To open the recovered version of a workbook (to see how much of the work it contains that was unsaved at the time of the crash), use these steps:
1. Position the mouse pointer over the AutoRecover version, then click its drop-down menu button and click Open on its pop-up menu.
2. After you open the recovered version, you can (if you choose) then save its changes by clicking the Save button on the Quick Access toolbar or by clicking Office Button --> Save.
To save the recovered version of a workbook without bothering to first open it up, place your mouse pointer over the recovered version, click its drop-down button, and choose the Save As option on the pop-up menu.
To permanently abandon the recovered version (leaving you with only the data in the original version), click the Close button at the bottom of the Document Recovery task pane. When you click the Close button, an alert dialog box appears, giving you the chance to retain the recovered versions of the file for later viewing. To retain the files for later viewing, select the Yes option button before clicking OK. To retain only the original versions of the files shown in the task pane, select the No option button instead.
 | The AutoRecover feature only works on Excel workbooks that you have saved at least one time. In other words, if you build a new workbook and don't bother to save and rename it prior to experiencing a computer crash, the AutoRecover feature will not bring back any part of it. For this reason, it is very, very important that you get into the habit of saving new workbooks with the Save button on the Quick Access toolbar shortly after beginning your work. Or you can use the trusty keyboard shortcut Ctrl+S. |
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