Office
Recover an Unsaved or Overwritten Excel File
Excel closed without saving, or you saved over a good workbook. These are two different problems with two different fixes — here is both, in order.
7 min read
Microsoft Office
10 guides tagged “Microsoft Office”.
Office
Recover an Unsaved Word Document
Word closed, crashed or you clicked Don't Save. Here is where Word hides its recovery copies and how to get your document back before the window closes.
7 min read
Office
How to Password Protect a Document Properly
Some Office protection options are real encryption and some are a polite request. Here is which is which, and how to lock a file so it genuinely stays locked.
8 min read
Office
How to Recover a Corrupted Word or Excel File
Open and Repair works more often than people expect. Here is the full order to try, and an honest account of when a damaged file is genuinely unrecoverable.
8 min read
Office
Why Are PowerPoint Files So Huge?
Twenty slides should not be 150MB. Images stored at full resolution and embedded video account for nearly all of it — here is how to strip both out.
7 min read
Office
How to Compare Two Versions of a Document
Stop reading both files side by side. Word, Google Docs and free tools will show you exactly what changed between two drafts in seconds.
7 min read
Office
Excel Opens Blank or Grey With No Spreadsheet
The window opens, the ribbon is there, the sheet area is empty grey. Usually a hidden window or a DDE setting, not a damaged file.
7 min read
Office
How to Open a File When You Don't Have the Program
You do not need to buy the software that made it. Identify the format first, then use a free viewer or a browser-based app that reads it properly.
8 min read
Office
Why Word Documents Lose Formatting When Shared
The layout shifts, fonts change and page breaks move on someone else's machine. Here is what actually causes it and how to send a document that holds together.
7 min read
Office
Why Is My Excel File So Large?
A spreadsheet with a few thousand rows should not be 40MB. Find out what is actually inflating the workbook and strip it out without losing data.
8 min read