Excel Tips Archives - XcelNote https://xcelnote.com/tag/excel-tips/ A Complete Tutorial To Master Excel Sat, 11 Oct 2025 10:26:31 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.3 https://xcelnote.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/xcelfav-150x150.png Excel Tips Archives - XcelNote https://xcelnote.com/tag/excel-tips/ 32 32 How to Recover Unsaved Excel File https://xcelnote.com/how-to-recover-unsaved-excel-file/ Sat, 11 Oct 2025 10:26:18 +0000 https://xcelnote.com/?p=4986 Have you ever worked so hard on an Excel file that it suddenly shut down or crashed before you could save it? Or, you can close the file by accident without storing it. No matter what the issue is, losing the file can feel like a calamity. At least once in our lives, we may […]

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Have you ever worked so hard on an Excel file that it suddenly shut down or crashed before you could save it? Or, you can close the file by accident without storing it. No matter what the issue is, losing the file can feel like a calamity. At least once in our lives, we may have been in this situation. If you haven’t saved your Excel file, there are a number of things that could happen to it.

There are a few ways to recover that file back before it is lost for good if you want it back.

In this post, I will show you how to recover unsaved Excel file

Here’s How to Recover Unsaved Excel File:

Method 1. Recover Unsaved Excel File Using AutoRecover

The AutoRecover option in Excel saves a temporary duplicate of your workbook every so often. This is how to use it:

Step 1: Open Excel

Step 2: Then Click on File->Info.

How to Recover Unsaved Excel File

Step 3: Select Manage Workbook (or Manage Versions).

recover Unsaved Excel File

Step 4: Now choose “Recover Unsaved Workbooks.”

How to Recover Unsaved Excel File

Step 5: A window will open that shows all the files that haven’t been saved yet. Choose your file and then click Open. As soon as it opens, choose File > Save As to save it.

Tips: To change how often Excel saves automatically, go to File > Options > Save and change the “Save AutoRecover information every X minutes” setting to a shorter time, like 5 minutes.

ALSO READ: How to Create a Line Chart in Excel

Method 2: Recover from Temporary Files Folder

If the Recover Unsaved Workbooks technique doesn’t work, you can check for temporary copies or backup files of Excel workbooks that you haven’t saved yet.

If you have a Windows 10 or 11 PC, you can find the Excel AutoRecovery temp files in these folders:

How to Recover Unsaved Excel File


C:\Users\UserName\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Excel
C:\Users\UserName\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Office\Recent
C:\Users\UserName\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Office\UnsavedFiles

ALSO READ: How to Lock Cells in Excel

Method 3: Using the Excel AutoRecover Feature

The Recover Unsaved Workbooks feature will only work if you leave the unsaved file open for more than 10 minutes.

You won’t be able to get back the lost workbook if you close the unsaved Excel file in 5 to 6 minutes.

So, right after you install Microsoft Excel, you need to set the autosave interval by yourself.

How to Recover Unsaved Excel File
  1. Press Alt + F + T on an Excel file to open the Excel Options dialog box.
  2. In the left-side navigation panel, click on the Save category.
  3. You should see the settings for the Excel AutoRecover feature on the right side.
  4. In the box for “Save AutoRecover information every,” type in a custom time, like “1 minute.”
  5. To save the changes you’ve made, click OK.
  6. The default setting for Excel will now be better at recovering unsaved files.

How to Prevent Losing Excel Files in the Future

  1. In Excel Options, turn on AutoSave or AutoRecover.
  2. For cloud backup, put your files in OneDrive or SharePoint.
  3. While you work, hit Ctrl + S frequently.
  4. Set the AutoRecover time to five minutes or less.

Frequently Asked Questions

How can we recover unsaved Excel files?

Ans: Excel always saves a backup copy of the file in the same folder or in the program itself so that you can get it back if something goes wrong. You can recover unsaved files from the Manage Documents section or the Document Recovery window.

What are some easy ways to save an Excel file?

Ans: The easiest way to save an Excel file is to press Ctrl + S. You may also save the file by clicking the Save button in the top left corner of the Excel window’s title bar.

Where can I find the Manage Documents option in Excel?

Ans: To access the Manage Documents option, go to File and click on Info. You can find unsaved files or older versions of the same Excel file in the Manage Documents section.


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How to Create a Line Chart in Excel https://xcelnote.com/how-to-create-a-line-chart-in-excel/ Wed, 08 Oct 2025 21:13:44 +0000 https://xcelnote.com/?p=4974 The Excel line chart is one of the easiest and most basic charts you can make. But just because something is basic doesn’t mean it’s not useful. People who work with statistics and science like line graphs a lot because they make patterns easy to see and plot. Let’s look at how to make a […]

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The Excel line chart is one of the easiest and most basic charts you can make. But just because something is basic doesn’t mean it’s not useful. People who work with statistics and science like line graphs a lot because they make patterns easy to see and plot.

Let’s look at how to make a line chart in Excel, when it’s most useful, and how it may help you make sense of complicated data sets.

What is Excel line chart (graph)

An Excel line chart (sometimes called a line graph) shows a series of data points that are connected by a straight line. It is often used to show numbers over a given amount of time in a visual way.

Independent data, like time intervals, are usually represented on the x-axis, whereas dependent values, like prices and sales, are plotted on the y-axis. If there are any negative values, they are shown below the x-axis.

The line’s ups and downs on the graph represent patterns in your data collection. An upward slope means values are going up, while a downward slope means values are going down.

ALSO READ: How to Make a Pie Chart in Excel

How To Create a Line Chart in Excel

To create an Excel line chart, do the following:

Step 1: Select Your Data

Select your data

Step 2: Click the Line symbol in the Charts group on the Insert tab.

Step 3: Now Click on the line with Markers.

Finally your Excel line Chart will be ready

Important Note: If you simply have numbers as labels, clear cell A1 before making the line chart. Excel doesn’t see the values in column A as a data series when you do this, so it puts them on the horizontal (category) axis by default. You can type the word “Year” into cell A1 after making the chart if you want to.

RELATED: How to Make a Bar Chart in Excel​

How to customize and improve an Excel line chart

The default line chart that Excel makes looks OK, but it can always be better. It makes sense to start with the usual changes to give your graph a unique and professional style, such as:

  • Adding, altering, or formatting the title of the chart.
  • Moving or concealing the legend for the chart.
  • Changing the scale of the axis or the format of the numbers on the axis.
  • Showing or hiding the gridlines on the chart.
  • Changing the colors and design of the chart.

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How to Make a Pie Chart in Excel https://xcelnote.com/how-to-make-a-pie-chart-in-excel/ Wed, 08 Oct 2025 19:45:30 +0000 https://xcelnote.com/?p=4960 Pie charts are one of the easiest and most useful ways to show proportions in a dataset. A well-designed pie chart can help your audience quickly understand important information, whether you’re showing market share, survey results, or budget allocations. This guide will show you how to make a pie chart in Excel, change it to […]

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Pie charts are one of the easiest and most useful ways to show proportions in a dataset. A well-designed pie chart can help your audience quickly understand important information, whether you’re showing market share, survey results, or budget allocations.

This guide will show you how to make a pie chart in Excel, change it to make it clearer, and look at more advanced types like doughnut charts and exploded pie charts to highlight important data points.

What Is a Pie Chart in Excel?

A pie chart is a round graph that shows data as slices of a whole. Each slice shows how much a category adds to the whole. You only need one set of data and a set of labels to make a pie chart in Excel. Pie charts are used every day for things like:

  • Market share analysis: Looking at how competitors in the same industry measure against each other
  • Results of the survey: Showing how responses were spread out
  • Budgeting: Seeing how expenses are broken down in financial reports

Pie charts are great for showing how things are related, but they work best with a small number of categories (five or fewer is best) to keep things from getting too busy and confusing. In other words, pie charts don’t work well with data that has a lot of different values.

ALSO READ: How to Make a Bar Chart in Excel​

How to Create a Pie Chart in Excel

Step 1: Adding Data in Excel

Open Excel and put in the information you wish to see as a pie chart.

Step 2: Select your Data

Highlight the information you put in the first step. After that, click the “Insert” option in the toolbar and choose “Insert Pie or Doughnut Chart.” Excel has a lot of ways to make a pie chart, like a 2D pie chart, a 3D chart, and more.

How to Make a Pie Chart in Excel

After that, pick the pie chart you want, and it will show up on your spreadsheet.

Step 3: Adding Data Labels

Adding data labels is an important part of learning how to construct a pie chart in Excel. It’s easier to understand and read pie charts and other visualizations when you add data labels to them. When you make pie charts in Excel, a legend is automatically added. The names of the categories will also show up on the pie chart if you typed them in and chose them while building the chart. To show numbers, right-click on the pie chart and choose “Add Data Labels.”

How to Make a Pie Chart in Excel
How to Make a Pie Chart in Excel

To change the look of data labels, right-click on the pie chart and choose “Format Data Labels.” In the Format Data Labels pane, you may choose the options you want, like the category name, percentage value, and so on. You can also change the format of data series. You may also modify the color and size of the typeface.

How to Make a Pie Chart in Excel

RELATED: How to Create a Gantt Chart in Excel

How To Create Different Pie Chart Types In Excel?

You can choose any one of the following subtypes when you are creating a pie chart in Excel:

Pie Of Pie or Bar Of Pie

It’s really simple and quick to make a Bar Of Pie or Pie Of Pie chart in Excel. Go to the Insert tab and choose either Pie Of Pie or Bar Of Pie after you’ve added and highlighted the data.

How to Make a Pie Chart in Excel

Doughnut Chart

Doughnut charts are similar to pie charts, but they have a blank space in the middle where you can put important information about the data. You can make a doughnut chart in Excel the same way you make a pie chart: just pick the “Doughnut Chart” option.

Exploded pie charts

An exploding pie chart splits one or more slices from the remainder to draw attention to certain data points. This is helpful if you want to draw attention to an important group, such as the biggest or smallest contributor.

To explode a pie chart, click on a slice and drag it away from the rest of the chart.

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How to Find Duplicates in Excel: 4 Easy and Quick Methods https://xcelnote.com/how-to-find-duplicates-in-excel-4-easy-and-quick-methods/ Fri, 01 Aug 2025 20:24:11 +0000 https://xcelnote.com/?p=4845 If you’ve ever worked on a massive Excel spreadsheet, you’ve likely smashed into duplicate entries—those annoying repeats that sneak in when you’re juggling customer records, product lists, or sales data. Sometimes duplicates are harmless (like a returning customer), others can mess with your totals, throw off reports, and just generally drive you nuts. That’s why […]

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If you’ve ever worked on a massive Excel spreadsheet, you’ve likely smashed into duplicate entries—those annoying repeats that sneak in when you’re juggling customer records, product lists, or sales data. Sometimes duplicates are harmless (like a returning customer), others can mess with your totals, throw off reports, and just generally drive you nuts.

That’s why the learning how to find duplicate in Excel is more than just a neat trick—it’s an essential part of keeping your data clean and readable.

In this guide, I’ll walk you through a few simple (but powerful) ways to find and deal with duplicates in MS Excel, from easy visual tools to formulas that give you total control.

Why Do Duplicates Happen in the First Place?

Most of the time, duplicates creep in when data gets copied, imported, or manually typed in. It’s super common—especially if you’re working with different team members or pulling info from multiple systems.

The trickiest part is? Not all duplicates are errors. That’s why it’s important to know exactly how to find duplicate in Excel and decide whether to keep or remove them based on context.

ALSO READ: How to Delete Blank Cells in Excel

Method 1: Using Conditional Formatting

The fastest way to find duplicates in Excel—without touching a formula—is with Conditional Formatting, a built-in Excel feature that does the job with just a few clicks.

Try this:

  1. Select the cells you want to check.
How to Find Duplicates in Excel

2. Go to the Home tab.

How to Find Duplicates in Excel

3. Click Conditional Formating > Highlight Cells Rule > Duplicate Values.

How to Find Duplicates in Excel

4. Pick a formatting style (red fill usually works well).

How to Find Duplicates in Excel

5. Hit OK.

How to Find Duplicates in Excel

Just like that, Excel highlights the repeat entries. It’s a super simple way to get a visual sense of what’s going on in your data.

Want a quick win when figuring out how to find duplicates in Excel without diving into formulas? Start here.

Method 2: Using Formula

Sometimes, you need more than a highlighter—you need logic. That’s when formulas prove to be really useful. And if you’ve ever wondered how to find duplicate values in Excel using formula, here’s a basic one to get started:

=IF(COUNTIF(A:A, A2)>1, "Duplicate", "")

What it does: This formula looks at the value in cell A2 and counts how many times it appears in column A. If it shows up more than once, Excel labels it as “Duplicate.”

Steps:

  1. Insert a new column next to your data.
  2. Paste the formula into the first row.
  3. Drag it down to apply it to the rest of the dataset.

Note: Want to compare two or more columns before calling something a duplicate? Use COUNTIFS instead. It lets you build more specific rules.

So if your question is how to find duplicate values in Excel using formula, this method gives you full flexibility and a clear, customized approach.

Method 3: Actually Removing the Duplicates

Let’s say you don’t just want to see the duplicates—you want them gone. Excel makes that easy too, thanks to the Remove Duplicates tool.

Here’s the step what to do:

  1. Highlight your Excel data (don’t forget column headers).
  2. Go to the Data tab.
  3. Click on Remove Duplicates.
  4. Select the column to check.
  5. Click OK.

Excel will tell you how many duplicates were deleted and how many unique values are left. Remember— this method is permanent unless you hit Undo right away.

Pro Tip: Always make a backup of your file before deleting anything. To avoid the risk of lose your data.

ALSO READ: How to Create a qbj File From Excel

Method 4: Using Advanced Filter

If you’re more interested in pulling out the unique entries—rather than highlighting or deleting—Excel’s Advanced Filter can help.

Here’s how:

  1. Select your data range.
How to Find Duplicates in Excel

2. Head to the Data tab.

How to Find Duplicates in Excel

3. Click Advanced under Sort & Filter.

How to Find Duplicates in Excel

4. Choose Copy to another location.

How to Find Duplicates in Excel

5. Check Unique records only.

How to Find Duplicates in Excel

6. Choose where you want the results to appear and click OK.

How to Find Duplicates in Excel

Note: While this won’t flag or remove duplicates, it gives you a filtered list of unique values, which makes it easy to figure out how to find duplicate cells in Excel by contrast.

Common Mistakes to Avoid Them

  • Missing part of your datasets. Always double-check that you’ve selected the full range—especially if your data spans multiple columns.
  • Deleting duplicates. Sometimes, repeated entries are valid. Think twice before removing them.
  • Not saving a backup Mistake. If you’re using tools like Remove Duplicates, protect yourself by keeping a copy of the original file.

The Bottom Line

Look, learning how to find duplicate in Excel isn’t just for power users or data geeks. It’s something everyone who touches a spreadsheet should know. It’ll save you time, prevent mistakes, and help you work more confidently with data.

And remember—if you mess up a formula or click the wrong button, that’s okay. Excel’s undo button (Ctrl+Z or Command+Z on a Mac) is there for a reason.

So the next time you’re stuck wondering how to find duplicates in Excel, just scroll back to this guide. You’ve got options, tools, and now—the confidence to use them.

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How to Auto-Adjust Cell Width and Height in Excel https://xcelnote.com/how-to-auto-adjust-cell-width-and-height-in-excel/ Mon, 31 Mar 2025 20:17:06 +0000 https://xcelnote.com/?p=4738 When working with data in Excel, you may realize that text or numbers may not always fit inside the usual cell size. Instead of manually altering column widths and row heights, Excel’s AutoFit tool will automatically resize cells to match their content properly. Method 1: Using AutoFit for a Single Column If you wish to […]

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When working with data in Excel, you may realize that text or numbers may not always fit inside the usual cell size. Instead of manually altering column widths and row heights, Excel’s AutoFit tool will automatically resize cells to match their content properly.

Method 1: Using AutoFit for a Single Column

If you wish to automatically adjust the width of one column:

Step 1: Click the column letter at the top (e.g., A).

Step 2: Navigate to the Home tab and locate the “Cells” group.

How to Auto-Adjust Cell Width and Height in Excel

Step 3: Select Format > Autofit Column Width.

How to Auto-Adjust Cell Width and Height in Excel

Step 4: The column will automatically resize to fit the longest piece of data.

Alternatively, double-click the column header’s right border to automatically modify it.

RELATED: How to Delete Blank Cells in Excel

Method 2: AutoFit Multiple Columns

To adjust many columns at once:

Step 1: Select all of the columns by clicking and dragging their heads.

Step 2: Double-click the right edge of any column you want to pick.

Step 3: All selected columns will be automatically resized to fit their content.

Method 3: AutoFit Row Height

If the text in a cell wraps to numerous lines or contains different font sizes, you may need to change the row height:

Step 1 : To select the row, click on the row number on the left.

Step 2: Go to the Home tab and select Format in the “Cells” group.

Step 3: Select AutoFit Row Height, and Excel will automatically modify the row’s height.

How to Auto-Adjust Cell Width and Height in Excel

Alternatively, double-click the row number’s bottom border to alter it instantaneously.

ALSO READ: How to Change HORIZONTAL Data to VERTICAL in Excel

Method 4: AutoFit Using Keyboard Shortcuts

For an easier method, use the following shortcut keys:

AutoFit Column Width: Alt+H+O+I

AutoFit Row Height: Alt+H+O+A

Final Thoughts

Excel’s auto-adjusting cell width and height feature ensures that your data is clearly visible and well-organized without the need for manual scaling. Whether you use the AutoFit function, double-clicking, or keyboard shortcuts, these techniques will save you time and increase spreadsheet readability.

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