PowerPoint

Question

I lost all of my PowerPoint work, my computer started acting up.. my PowerPoint was always on auto save and today it was not. As I turned off my computer everything erased.

Answer 1

Hello florianne louembet,

I’m really sorry this happened, losing PowerPoint work like that is extremely upsetting, especially when AutoSave should have protected you. Let me assist you go through this situation.

Immediate recovery steps for you:

RECOVER YOUR POWERPOINT FILE

1. Open PowerPoint
2. Click File > Open
3. Click Recent
4. Click Recover Unsaved Presentations
5. Open any file listed 6. Click Save As immediately

CHECK AUTORECOVER FOLDER (WINDOWS)

1. Press Windows + R
2. Paste: %appdata%\Microsoft\PowerPoint
3. Press Enter
4. Look for files modified today
5. Copy the file to Desktop 6. Rename .tmp > .pptx
6. Open in PowerPoint

CHECK TEMP FILES

1. Press Windows + R
2. Type: %temp%
3. Press Enter
4. Search for .pptx or .tmp files
5. Copy > rename to .pptx > open

CONTACT MICROSOFT SUPPORT

Once you’ve tried the steps above, you can also reach out directly to the Microsoft Support team. It may offer live chat and, depending on your subscription/region, an option to request a callback:

• Go to https://support.microsoft.com/home/contact
• Search for "Refund Microsoft 365 subscription" in the search box.    
• Click "Get Help", then scroll to the bottom and select "Contact Support”.
• When prompted to select Products & Services, select Microsoft 365 > PowerPoint > Windows
• Look for and select "Chat with a support agent in your web browser". Once connect, explain your situation clearly.

Please note that the chat support team only works during certain working hours. Therefore, if the last window indicates that you are unavailable, try opening it again the next day. If you prefer phone support, you can leave a phone number. That way, they can call you and help you.

Please understand that this is a user‑to‑user support forum. Moderators, contributors, and external Microsoft staff cannot directly intervene in Microsoft product features or access back‑end systems. Our role is limited to providing technical guidance on reported issues, requests, or ideas. Still, I will do my best to assist you with everything I can.

I hope this will help with your situation. Please feel free to reach back if you have further update or more questions.

Best Regards,

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Answer 2

Try the following steps in order to recover the lost PowerPoint work.

1. Reopen PowerPoint and check Document Recovery
   • Start PowerPoint again.
   • If there was a crash or unexpected shutdown, the Document Recovery pane should open automatically.
   • In Document Recovery, select the most recent version of the file and choose Open.
   • If it has the content needed, immediately choose Save As and save it to a known location.
2. Use AutoRecover / Recover Unsaved Presentations
   • In PowerPoint, go to File > Info.
   • Under Manage Presentation, look for a version labeled (when I closed without saving). Select it and then choose Restore (or Save As if preferred).
   • If the file does not appear there, do this:
     1. Go to File > Info > Manage Presentation > Recover Unsaved Presentations.
     2. Select any file that matches the lost work and click Open.
     3. Use Save As to save it permanently.
3. Open the AutoRecover folder directly (Windows)
   • In PowerPoint, go to File > Options > Save.
   • Note the path shown for AutoRecover file location.
   • In File Explorer, browse to that folder. By default it is:

          C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\PowerPoint
     

     (Replace <username> with the Windows user name.)
   • Look for recent files in that folder and try opening them in PowerPoint, then save any that contain the work.
4. For future protection
   • Ensure AutoRecover is enabled and frequent:
     • Go to File > Options > Save.
     • Make sure Save AutoRecover information every x minutes is checked and set the interval (for example, every 5 minutes).
   • Optionally change the AutoRecover file location to a folder that is easy to find and backed up.

If none of the above locations contain a copy of the presentation, there is no additional built‑in recovery method beyond these AutoRecover and unsaved-file options.

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References:

• Recover your PowerPoint files
• Recover an earlier version of an Office file
• Video: Recover Office files