Chapter 6: Understanding Excel Files and Templates
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If a file with the same name already exists in the location that you specify, Excel asks
whether you want to overwrite that file with the new file. Be careful! You can’t recover the
previous file after you overwrite it.When you saved a workbook as a comma-separated values (CSV) file in previous versions, Excel would display a
dialog box warning you that some data may be lost. CSV files are simple text files and don’t store formulas or format-
ting. The problem with the warning is that it would appear even if you didn’t have formulas or formatting, and it would
appear every single time you saved the CSV file. In Excel 2019, the dialog box was replaced with a yellow status bar
that includes the option Don’t Show Again. The new status bar is much less invasive and a welcome change for users
who deal with CSV files.
Using AutoRecover
If you’ve used computers for any length of time, you’ve probably lost some work. You forgot
to save a file, or maybe the power went out and your unsaved work was lost. Or maybe you
were working on something and didn’t think it was important, so you closed the file with-
out saving. Of course, later you realized that it was indeed important. Excel’s AutoRecover
feature might make these types of “d’oh!” moments less frequent.As you work in Excel, your work is periodically saved automatically. It happens in the
background so you don’t even know that it’s happening. If necessary, you can access these
autosaved versions of your work. This even applies to workbooks that you never explicitly
saved.The AutoRecover feature consists of two components:■ (^) Versions of a workbook are saved automatically, and you can view them.
■ (^) Workbooks that you closed without saving are saved as draft versions.
Recovering versions of the current workbook
To see whether any previous versions of the active workbook are available, choose File ➪
Info. The Manage Workbook section lists the available old versions (if any) of the current
workbook. In some cases, more than one autosaved version will be listed. In other cases, no
autosaved versions will be available. Figure 6.2 shows a workbook with two recovery points.
You can open an autosaved version by clicking its name. Remember that opening an auto-
saved version won’t automatically replace the current version of your workbook. Therefore,
you can decide whether the autosaved version is preferable to the current version. Or you
can just copy some information that may have been accidentally deleted and paste it to
your current workbook.
When you close the workbook, the autosaved versions are deleted.