Many times, we accidentally delete Excel files, save over files that we had previously created and sometimes not even save changes that we have made to a file. At such times, it may seem impossible to recover these files or to get back valuable data that were contained in the file. However, users of Excel should be aware that the program has a very powerful AutoRecover feature that allows for an automatic and quick recovery of workbooks when there are problems like an accidental failure of power. By going to the 'Excel Options' under the 'Save' settings, you can easily enable the AutoRecover feature and also specify how often you would like the AutoRecover information to be saved. The more frequently the information is saved, the more easy does the Excel repair process become.
One of the simplest ways of searching for lost Excel workbooks is to use the 'Search' feature available in Windows. Using this feature, you can search for files in 'All Files and Folders' stored on the hard disk. By merely specifying the extension of the files as *.xls, you can search for Excel files that you might have accidentally saved in unknown locations. This feature will also help you locate files that you might have accidentally deleted since files contained in the Recycle Bin are also searched. Once you have located the file, you could check the integrity of the file and verify that it contains all the data that it was supposed to. If you face any problems in opening the file and accessing the data, you might need to carry out an Excel repair on the file.
If you have not enabled the AutoRecover feature and find yourself unable to open an Excel file, it is possible that the file has been damaged or corrupted. Microsoft Excel has options through which a file can be scanned and repaired. If the repair process proves unsuccessful, then there is also the option of merely extracting the data from the file so that the user's valuable data stays unaffected. Despite the availability of these tools, sometimes, Excel files are damaged or corrupted beyond the scope of these tools. Only more sophisticated recovery tools like Advanced Excel Repair from DataNumen can help in carrying out an effective Excel repair and recovering the data from the file.