Applies To
Excel for Microsoft 365 Word for Microsoft 365 PowerPoint for Microsoft 365 Excel 2024 Word 2024 PowerPoint 2024 Excel 2021 Word 2021 PowerPoint 2021 Excel 2019 Word 2019 PowerPoint 2019 Excel 2016 Word 2016 PowerPoint 2016
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It's a good practice to set up your Office apps to automatically back up your work, in case you unexpectedly lose your connection or power.

Set document recovery options

  1. Select File > Options.

  2. Select Save.

  3. Select the Save AutoRecover information checkbox.

  4. Set how often you'd like to backup your work.

    To be safe, set a small number, so you never lose more than 5 or 10 minutes of work. Or, to make Office faster, enter a larger number, like 20.

  5. Select the Keep the last autosaved version if I close without saving checkbox.

  6. Change the AutoRecover file location if you like.

  7. When you're done, select OK.

    Now if something unexpected happens, the next time you open the app, you can use the Document Recovery pane to recover your Office files.

    Note: Even with Document Recovery set, it's still a good practice to select Save Button image (or press Ctrl+S) often to avoid losing work.

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Use AutoSave and AutoRecover to help protect your files in case of a crash

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