Recovering Excel documents that were closed without saving

"I had a similar situation but someone was working off of our company's server via remote desktop. Someone recommended the following file tree which was helpful:

C:\Users\*user name*\AppData\Local\Microsoft ⇢
\Office\UnsavedFiles\Book1((Unsaved-301910293917302138)).xlsb

I actually found the files on the server via a similar file tree with a weird non excel file extension and, while I could not double-click and open, I was able to open it just fine from the already launched Excel software and finally save it as a spreadsheet.

C:\Documents and Settings\*user name*\Application Data\Microsoft\Excel\XLSTART"

I worked on an Excel 2007 file, then chose not to save it after getting confused by the many windows! Searching for the exact name of the file (using Google desktop) will show you a few cached versions of the file. Look at the time of your last file and use the cached file to copy and paste back your work. The format will not be the same but you'll have your work. I just did this and it worked!

"MS Office has an autosave feature. It does this periodically just to make sure you do not lose anything. The question is whether or not it was actually enabled. If it was you might be able to find the temp file in the directory mentioned below.

Excel doesn't have the AutoSave
feature enabled as default, you have
to add it. This is because it isn't
always practical to have this
functionality enabled. If you have it
enabled and want to experiment with a
spreadsheet, you should create a copy
then open that so that the AutoSave
doesn't overwrite the original.

To enable the AutoSave feature, you
have to use an Add In. Go to ""Tools""
""Add ins"" and choose ""AutoSave"". With
Office XP, AutoSave has been moved out
from Add Ins to Options, in a similar
way to Word. You will find the
settings under ""Save"" where you can
also disable the Auto Recover feature
for that particular work book.

Excel automatically saves every 10
minutes to the default location of
""C:\ Documents and
Settings\\Local
Settings\Temp"" The files are
identifiable as they are saved as a
number .tmp e.g. ""28.tmp"". This means
that they look different from word or
any other temporary files that are
being saved there by other
applications.

With a little luck this suggestion will work for you. You will probably have to rename the file manually since excel file was closed normally."

At that point (and it's probably too late now, but for future reference), whether from a close or a crash, open Excel up directly. DO NOT open up the file from a "Recent Docs" list or even from My Docs. Office creates a temp file to store your work in, so if you open (any) the program by itself, it should have a Recovery bar on the left. If not, maybe you can use some file recovery software. I use PC Inspector File Recovery alot.