How to Recover an Excel Work File That Wasn't Saved

File Never Saved
1. Reopen Excel.
2. Click on 'File' in the upper-left hand corner of the screen. Then click 'Recent.'
3. Select 'Recover Unsaved Workbooks.' This will display a list of any workbooks you worked on that were not saved.
4. Select your file you were working on. Excel will record the time that the file was last worked on, so you can tell which file is the one you want if the time is close to when you closed Excel without saving or Excel crashed.
5. Click 'Open.'
6. Click 'Save As' to save your file. You need to name the file and then click 'Save.'
Files Previously Saved
7. Open the document you were working on.
8. Click 'File' in the upper left-hand corner of the window.
9. Click 'Info.'
10. Under Versions, click the version labeled '(when I closed without saving)'.
11. Click 'Restore.'