Backing up Excel Files.

Need A Little Backup?

Do you have important Excel files that would create nothing short of chaos and disaster for you if you were to lose those files?
Now I'm sure that you regularly make copies of these files just in case - but wouldn't it be nice if Excel could help us out a bit on this score?
Yeah - I thought so too so I did some research…
I found in the options of Excel's Save As window a little backup for our very important files.
To take a look you'll need to go to the Save As window, Tools menu, General Options choice.



At the top of the Save Options window that opens you should see a checkbox for something labeled as "Always create backup".



Should you choose to check this option and click OK what will happen is obvious.
Every time you save, after the initial Save As, Excel will create a backup file too - automatically.
Yes - it's that easy to get Excel to lend a helping hand.
Now - I did do some experimenting with this and found that the backup always seemed to be one version of the file behind. In other words - the latest changes were saved in the actual file and the backup file was saved without the newest changes. This could be useful in the "Oh man, I really messed up this file" arena.
Also, to actually see the backup when trying to open it you'll need to change the type of file you're looking for in the Open window. You could try All Files or you could scroll way to the bottom of the list where you'll find Backup Files listed. Either way - the backup is not listed among your usual files. It's called "Backup of xxxxx".
Just one more strategy to employ in the never-ending battle against lost data.
~ April
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Do you have a web site you visit often? Wouldn't it be cool to have a shortcut on your desktop for it? Here's a quick way to do it:
First, head to the web page with either Explorer or FireFox.
You'll see next to the site's URL (address) a small icon with a blue "e" on it (looks like a piece of paper in FF). Drag that to your desktop. Instant shortcut!



When you click on the shortcut(s), it will open your default browser and take you to the web site. Cool huh?