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Unexpected Error - AutoRecover Disabled

Anonymous
2012-11-13T17:55:49+00:00

I am receiving the following error quite frequently: "An unexpected error has occurred. Autorecover has been disabled for this session of Excel." Excel then locks up and eventually has to be shut down through Task Manager. I lose all my work at this point. This happens in the majority of workbooks I've created. It doesn't matter if they are newly created files or I'm working on one previously saved. I have read through all the other threads related to this error; I am not using pivot tables, macros or working on a network. I do not have a solid state drive. I am not copying from one workbook to another. I am using the default AutoRecover file location. I have AutoRecover enabled and set to save every 5 minutes. Sometimes this error occurs when I try to save or print. Sometimes it occurs when I'm not doing anything in the file at all. In that case, I presume it's happening when AutoRecover attempts to save. I have uninstalled and re-installed a new copy of Office.

Most recently, I opened Excel and began typing in a new workbook. I did not copy/paste anything, use macros/pivot tables, etc. I simply opened a new workbook, started typing, and it crashed. I am beyond frustrated with this. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Microsoft 365 and Office | Excel | For home | Windows

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  1. Anonymous
    2012-11-14T09:08:06+00:00

    Hi Sali,

    Thanks for the question! We can help you with this issue, but I’m going to need a little more information first.

    Open Excel, click on File > Options > In the field next to ‘Auto Recover file location’, make sure it points to a path with sufficient permissions.

    • The default is: C:\Users<username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Excel
    • Click OK.

    You may try changing the default printer to Microsoft XPS Document Writer and then check if the issue persists.

    Refer the link below to know on how to change the default printer:

    http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-vista/Change-your-default-printer

    If you have any further queries, reply and we will be glad to help you.

    Thanks

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  1. Anonymous
    2015-11-10T13:21:08+00:00

    I have previously hit problems with the 260 character path name limit in windows.  I am wondering whether this is a cause of these random errors:

    long autorecover directory path + long filename + autorecover_version> 260

    2 people found this answer helpful.
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  2. Anonymous
    2015-09-28T12:18:58+00:00

    I had an end user who was getting this error for every workbook she would open. Once AutoRecover was disabled, it stayed disabled until Excel was closed and reopened.

    The error said it could not find the file: "C:\Users<username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Excel\ ~something.xar

    I checked the setting for the Save path for autorecover and it was

    "C:\Users<username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Excel\ "

    I stripped the white space from the end and, voila! no more errors.

    One would think good coding would prevent the white space from being included in the path, wouldn't one?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
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  3. Anonymous
    2013-03-18T15:28:07+00:00

    I had the same problem and I fixed it today.  When the pop up appears type the name of the file it specifies in the search bar of the windows menu.  You will need administrator access to fix this.  Once in the file you will see two or more files one will be called XLSTART, the other(s) will be named after one of your documents.  These are causing your problem.  Delete them.  You won't lose any data.  The program is just hung up because the way it would autosave is currently in use by the extra files I said to delete.  Removing them will allow the program to operate normally.

    Hi, NicoliT.

    This problem has been plaguing me for months and none of the suggestions I have tried previously has cured the problem (including the one from Deepa above yours).  I want to try your solution.  Please explain what you mean when you say "the search bar of the windows menu".  I'm not sure where to find that (the windows menu).

    Also the pop up message "an error has been detected...etc" only contains the name of the Excel file that I am currently using.  Is that the name I type in the search bar?

    Please reply soon -- I am desperate to fix this -- I keep losing all my work, no matter what Excel workbook I use.

    1 person found this answer helpful.
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  4. Anonymous
    2012-12-21T19:19:04+00:00

    I had the same problem and I fixed it today.  When the pop up appears type the name of the file it specifies in the search bar of the windows menu.  You will need administrator access to fix this.  Once in the file you will see two or more files one will be called XLSTART, the other(s) will be named after one of your documents.  These are causing your problem.  Delete them.  You won't lose any data.  The program is just hung up because the way it would autosave is currently in use by the extra files I said to delete.  Removing them will allow the program to operate normally.

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments