My Office program did not open a recovered file

Symptoms

You turned on the AutoRecover feature before your Microsoft Office program closed abnormally. However, when you start the program again, it doesn't open the recovered file.

Resolution

When you restart a Microsoft Office program after a power failure or other problem, the program automatically opens any recovered files. If for some reason the recovery file doesn't open, you can try to open it yourself.

Notes:

• The information in this topic can help you if you turned on the AutoRecover or AutoSave feature. Also, you should make sure that the save interval is short enough to ensure that your work is saved frequently enough. For more information, see Avoid losing work when an Office program closes abnormally.
• In general, when you restart the program, the program automatically opens the files that were automatically saved. This is the preferred way to open an automatically saved file. You should use the following information only if the program fails to open a file that you think was automatically saved.

Manually open an automatically saved file

1. Open the Open dialog box in one of these Microsoft Office programs:

   Excel, PowerPoint, or WordClick the Microsoft Office Button , and then click Open.

   Visio or PublisherOn the Standard toolbar, click Open .

2. In the Open dialog box, type the path and file mask to display a list of the automatically saved files. The path and file mask depend on the program that you are using:

   Microsoft Office ExcelThe path and file mask for Excel depend on the version of Microsoft Windows you are running:

   • Microsoft Windows Vista

     %userprofile%\AppData\Microsoft\Excel\*.xlsb

   • Microsoft Windows Server 2003 or Microsoft Windows XP

     %userprofile%\Application Data\Microsoft\Excel\*.xlsb

   Microsoft Office WordThe path and file mask for Word depend on the version of Windows you are running:

   • Microsoft Windows Vista

     %userprofile%\AppData\Microsoft\Word\*.asd

   • Microsoft Windows Server 2003 or Microsoft Windows XP

     %userprofile%\Application Data\Microsoft\Word\*.asd

   Microsoft Office PowerPoint%temp%\ppt*.tmp

   Microsoft Office Publisher%temp%\pub*.tmp

   Microsoft Office Visio%temp%\*.vsd

3. Click the name of the file that you want to recover, and then click Open. If you are not sure which file you need to open, do one of the following:

   ExcelThe automatically saved files are named by using the following convention: Original file name (version Version number). For example, if your original file is named Trucks, the automatically saved file name should be Trucks (version 1).

   WordThe automatically saved files are named by using the following convention: Auto Recovery save of Original file name. For example, if your original file is named Trucks, the automatically saved file name should be Auto Recovery save of Trucks.

   PowerPoint, Publisher, or VisioThe automatically saved files are not named in a descriptive way. See the next step for information about how to use the Open dialog box to help you find the right file.

4. Optionally, you can modify the file list in the Open dialog box to make it easier to browse through the files to find the right one:
   1. Click the arrow next to the Views button, and then click Details.
   2. Click the column header to sort the list by Name, Size, Type, or Date Modified. Click the column header again to sort the list in the opposite order. For example, click Date Modified once or twice so that the list of files is sorted with the most recently modified files at the top of the list.
5. Continue to open files until you find the one you are looking for. After you find the file, click Save .

See also:

• Avoid losing work when an Office program closes abnormally
• Use the Document Recovery task pane to recover your files