How to Backup Excel Files in Windows 11/10? 3 Ways!

Necessary to Backup Excel Files Windows 10/11

Microsoft Excel is an excellent tool that is widely used to deal with various tasks, including calculation, simulations, visual analytics in charts, research, database management, data processing, etc. Due to its powerful features, it gains much popularity in Windows 11/10/8/8.1/7.

If you create many Excel files at work or study but don’t have a habit of backing up them, you may suffer from a nightmarish day due to file loss. The possible reasons may include:

• Microsoft Excel suddenly corrupts and you forget to save previous data
• The PC keeps crashing and you don’t have a chance to save Excel files
• Excel files get lost after a Windows update or you accidentally delete them by mistake
• …

So, it is necessary to automatically backup Excel files on your PC. Next, we will show you how to do this thing via professional file backup software and the built-in Excel features.

Related post: Quickly Fix: Excel Keeps Crashing in Windows 10

Run MiniTool ShadowMaker to Auto Backup Excel Files

MiniTool ShadowMaker, a free backup software, enables you to easily backup files, folders, a disk, selected partitions, and the Windows operating system. Speaking of file backup, you can run it to create backups for Excel files, Word documents, and other types of files, as well as videos, pictures, audio, etc.

If you have a bad memory and always forget to back up data, MiniTool ShadowMaker can be a good assistant since it offers a feature to enable you to set a schedule to back up Excel files daily, weekly, monthly, and on an event.

Besides, if you need to create or edit a multitude of files at intervals and worry about data loss, this backup software can also help you a lot as it supports creating incremental or differential backups for only new or changed data. At the same time, you can configure a value to manage the backup disk space by deleting old backups.

So, don’t hesitate to get the trial edition for 30-day free use.

MiniTool ShadowMaker TrialClick to Download100%Clean & Safe

Then, see how to backup Excel files automatically:

Step 1: Run MiniTool ShadowMaker Trial Edition and click Keep Trial to enter the main interface.

Step 2: Go to Backup > SOURCE > Folders and Files, find the Excel files & choose them, then click OK.

Step 3: Go to Backup > DESTINATION and choose a drive to save the Excel backup. We recommend using an external hard drive or USB drive as the storage path.

Step 4: To automatically backup Excel files, go to Options > Schedule Settings under Backup, enable this feature, and set a time point.

Can You Do Windows 11 Incremental Backup? How to Create?(2 Ways)

Does Windows 11 do incremental backups? How to create Windows 11 incremental backups automatically for only new or changed files? 2 ways are for you.

Read More

Step 4: After making advanced settings, go to click Back Up Now to start a full backup. Then, MiniTool ShadowMaker will automatically create Excel backups at the scheduled time.

3 Ways to Create Automatic File Backup in Windows 10/11 Easily

Want to create automatic file backups in Windows 10/11? This post shows you how to automatically back up files to an external hard drive with ease.

Read More

How to Backup Excel Files via Options in Microsoft Excel

In addition to automatically making an Excel backup using MiniTool ShadowMaker, you can do the backup task via some options in the Excel itself. Now, let’s delve into how to do it.

Use Always Create Backup Option in Excel

Excel offers an option called Always create backup that enables you to create a backup every time you save a file. That is, the content in your main file will be automatically saved in the backup file.

Step 1: Open an Excel file and click File > Save As.Then choose another path.

Step 2: Go to Tools > General Options in the popup and check the box of Always create backup. Then, click OK.

Step 4: You can rename the file name and click Save. Then, you can see a backup copy in the path you have specified.

Backup Excel File in Different Location Using Excel VBA

Excel VBA offers an efficient way to help create an automated Excel backup and let’s see how to auto backup Excel files in this way:

Step 1: In Excel, press Alt + F11 to open the VBA window.

Step 2: Go to Insert > Module to create a new module.

Step 3: Enter the following codes into the text field:

Sub Backup_Files()

ActiveWorkbook.SaveCopyAs “E:\Excel backup\” + ActiveWorkbook.Name

ActiveWorkbook.Save

End Sub

Step 4: Click Run to open the Macros dialog box and choose the specified Macro Name.

Step 5: Finally, click Run. Then, a backup copy will be saved to the location you have specified in the VBA codes.

Final Words

MiniTool ShadowMaker can help you create automated Excel backups for many files with ease and it enables you to make incremental/differential backups for newly added files in the folder you have selected. To keep Excel files safe, we strongly recommend getting this backup tool for Excel backup.

MiniTool ShadowMaker TrialClick to Download100%Clean & Safe

Besides, you can take full advantage of the Excel backup options to create backup copies on your PC when creating an Excel file to avoid file loss due to the un-saved operation.

What’s more, if you forget to save your Excel files, you still have a chance to get back data and you can refer to our previous post – How to Recover Excel File Not Saved on Windows 10 PC/Mac.