“I started a new workbook.  Worked so hard to create a report from scratch.  Meanwhile I opened many other workbooks to get the data I needed.  Then I realized that too many workbooks were opened.  I closed some of them and clicked “Don’t Save” when prompted…… OMG, did I just close the workbook that I am working on… without SAVE???  Would someone save me???” Does it sound familiar to you? Don’t cry!!  As long as you have not turned Autosave off.  You don’t lose everything but the work in the past 10 minutes (more or less depending on the time interval you set for Autosave). First let’s identify where the Autosaved files are? Go to File –> Option –> Save

Make sure the two highlighted checkboxes are checked.  Although you may change the default AutoRecover file location, I don’t see a strong reason for doing that. To quickly get your unsaved workbook back: Open a new workbook –> File –> Info –> Manage Versions

You will see your unsaved workbook sitting there, waiting for you to save it!  Simply open it and save it! Cool!!!! Wait… what if I closed my workbook without save before the 1st autosave happened??? Well, take the lesson and don’t make the mistake again in the future.  🙂

Note: Don’t rely on AutoRecovery.  You should build a good habit to save your workbooks from time to time.