Recover an unsaved PowerPoint– here’s how to do it

With the popular Microsoft 365 programs including Excel, Word, or PowerPoint, users create files on a daily basis that often involve a lot of work. This makes it all the worse when a file is accidentally deleted or not saved. Even unpredictable events such as a power failure or computer crash can cause files to be closed without saving. Fortunately, there are several methods available to you for recovering a PowerPoint. We’ll introduce you to the best options and explain step by step how to recover a PowerPoint file.

If you try to close an unsaved PowerPoint file, the program will display a warning message. This message lets you know that the file won’t close without saving the most recent changes until you confirm again. Despite this precaution, it can happen that open programs are closed without saving and data is lost. Unforeseen situations can also cause the program to close without saving. However, there are several ways to recover a PowerPoint that has not been saved. In the following, we explain step by step how to recover a PowerPoint.

In the so-called “temp” folder, Windows saves temporary files on an ongoing basis. There’s also a possibility, that unsaved contents of your PowerPoint can be found in this folder.

Open File Explorer and enter the term “PPT*.tmp” into the search bar. Now wait and see if the search comes up with anything.

If a PowerPoint file shows up in File Explorer, you can now rename it with .ppt at the end.

Next, open the file to check whether it’s actually the unsaved PowerPoint file. To recover the file, simply save it to another location on your computer.

As of Office version 2010, PowerPoint offers an integrated function to recover an unsaved PowerPoint. To make use of this function, proceed as follows:

Open the presentation program, click on the menu point “Open” and then select “Recent” from the left menu bar.

A folder will now open in which all saved drafts can be found. If the file you’re looking for is there, left-click on it and select “Open”. Save the file as per usual. You can now continue to work on your presentation.

While working on a PowerPoint presentation, unwanted changes can quickly be rectified with the key combination [Ctrl] + [Z]. In this way, deleted paragraphs of text can be brought back with just a few clicks. But as soon as you save a file and close it, this data will be lost. Follow these steps to recover an old version of a PowerPoint file.

If you automatically save your files to Dropbox, Google Drive, One Drive, or another cloud storage, then you have another option for recovering an unsaved PowerPoint. Search for previous versions, manage your old files, and recover the file you’re looking for.

It’s usually recommended to delete files that you no longer use or files that are outdated. In this way, you’ll maintain an overview and keep your file system clear. But what do you do if you accidently delete an important PowerPoint file?

When you delete a file, it’s not completely deleted from your computer. First, deleted files end up in your recycle bin. Open the recycle bin by double-clicking on the waste bin icon.

Enter the name of your PowerPoint file into the search field of the recycle bin program.

You’ve saved a PowerPoint file, but you’re not able to open it? We’ll show you different ways to recover a damaged PowerPoint.

In most cases, it’s not possible to tell whether the location or the file itself is damaged. If the file can be restored with the following instructions, the location is affected. In this case, it is recommended to restore and backup all files from this folder.

Open the folder where the damaged file is located. Open the context menu with a right-click on the file. Select the “Copy” option to save the file to the clipboard.

Then open any folder or create a new one. Paste the file by right-clicking on a free area and selecting “Paste” from the context menu. You can also copy the file to the folder by using the key combination [Ctrl] + [V].

Try to open the file with a double click. If this is possible without any problems, you may recover the PowerPoint and find that the original location itself is damaged.

In many cases, however, it’s not the location that’s damaged, but the PowerPoint file itself. In this case, the program offers a handy function to insert the slides into a new and undamaged file.

Open up an empty PowerPoint presentation.

As soon as you’ve transferred all slides, make sure that you save the file in a new location.

If a PowerPoint file cannot be opened in normal mode, try starting it in safe mode. To do this, hold down the controlkey[Ctrl] and then double-click on the PowerPoint file to select it. Click “Yes” in the confirmation window to open the presentation in safe mode.

Now, you can look for any issues with the file before saving it under a new name.

Despite the many options to recover a PowerPoint file, a successful recovery isn’t guaranteed. That’s why it’s important to use the shortcut [Ctrl] + [S] throughout your work. With this shortcut, you’ll save your file and make sure your work isn’t lost.

As of the 2010 version, PowerPoint comes with an integrated function that automatically saves open presentations. We’ll show you how to activate the function and avoid losing your files.