Backup Assistant

An add-in for Microsoft Excel that automatically backs up your workbooks.

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  • Backup files each time they are opened, or once a day when first opened
  • Backup open files on demand
  • Time and date stamp each backup
  • Don't get caught without a backup!

The Backup Assistant add-in for Microsoft Excel is designed to help you make backup copies of your workbooks before you make changes to them. One of its most useful features is to automatically back up a workbook immediately after it is opened. It can be set to back up just once a day or on each time you open the workbook

Eliminate the worry about messing up a file and not having an up-to-date backup.

“One of the college students working for us, Sarah, set the Backup Assistant to back up files once a day upon opening. Near the end of the Fall semester, a workgroup member trashed her Excel project workbook, and they thought all was lost. Then Sarah realized the Backup Assistant was still running, automatically backing up files once a day. She opened that day’s backup and found they had not lost their work after all!”

To use the Backup Assistant, click the Backup Assistant button to display the main dialog:

Backup Assistant dialog
The Backup Assistant dialog

The first two options allow you to either back up the active file or to back up a group of files. The third group option allows you to set back up preferences and on-workbook-open options. Backup on open is a very powerful feature — we use it to back up all of our workbooks when they are first opened each day. The backups are saved to a target folder with the file name and the date, for example “Sales Data 2026 09 23.xls”.

The third option displays a dialog that allows you to:

  • Specify if files are to be backed up on opening or on demand
  • Set the backup frequency: daily, each time opened, after confirmation, or not at all
  • Choose the backup folder
  • Set the naming convention for the backup files
  • Exclude file types (for example, CSV files or files from a temp folder)

The Backup Assistant is completely menu-driven. The menus are easy to follow and use. To help you learn how to use the features, there is a help and exercise file to give you hands-on practice — just click the How to use button on the main dialog.

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