Where does MS Vista store xslx files opened directly from Internet

[Gonzalo Martin]

I downloaded an spreadsheet from Yahoo mail, opened it directly (instead of
saving it to disk before using it), worked with it, saved to disk (instead of
saving as...), closed Excel, and now I can't find the file anywhere. It does
not appear in Recent files, it is not found by Search even when including
hidden and system files.
In summary, there is no way to find where does Excel save files opened
directly from the Web.

 

[Shane Devenshire]

--
If this helps, please click the Yes button

Cheers,
Shane Devenshire

 

[Bob I]

Probably in the Temporary Internet Files folder. You could ask in the
Vista group to get a better answer. Of course if you have security set
to delete temporary files when you close the browser, it won't survive
at all. So the correct method is ALWAYS do a Save As first, THEN do your
editing.

 

[Dave Peterson]

You could try opening a different file and then put:

=cell("Filename",a1)
in an empty cell.

It'll tell you where this new file was saved. If you're lucky, you may be able
to find the other file, too.

 

[Gonzalo Martin]

Thanks for your answer. I tried it but only got the error #VALUE!

Also, the link from e-mail notification of this forum didn't work

 

[Gonzalo Martin]

Thanks for your answer. My Temporary Internet Files folder is set to keep
history for 90 days. Unfortunately, the Excel files are not there.

 

[Bob I]

Notice I said probably. But I don't know how Vista handles it, hence the
suggestion about the Vista group.

 

[Dave Peterson]

That's odd.

If the file has been saved, then you should see the name including the path.
And I would guess that whatever email client you're using would have to save the
file first so it could spawn excel.

I'd try again.

Or look at
File|Properties|General tab
(xl2003 menus)

 

[Gonzalo Martin]

Thank you very much Dave. You were right: =cell("Filename") is all what is
needed to get the path of the file. I have been able to find many Excel files
in several folders under Temporary Internet Files, which are hidden even if
folder options are set to show hidden files, and they are not found by
Search. Unfortunately, I couldn't find the file I modified. Anyway, I learnt
something. Thanks again.

 

[Gonzalo Martin]

Thank you very much Bob. Actually, the files are stored under the Temporary
Internet Files folder, as you supposed. The odd thing is that the folders
where files are temporarily stored are not shown even if you have the "show
hidden files" option set, and they are not found by Search either. You need
to know the exact name of the directory in order to access it.

 

[Dave Peterson]

Just a word of warning about that function.

=cell("Filename",a1)
will display the path and file name of the workbook that contains that formula.

=cell("Filename")
(without the cell reference)

will show you the name of the workbook that is active when excel recalculated.

It's very rare you'd want the bottom version (w/o the cell reference).

(sorry that you couldn't find your file...)

Thank you very much Dave. You were right: =cell("Filename") is all what is
needed to get the path of the file. I have been able to find many Excel files
in several folders under Temporary Internet Files, which are hidden even if
folder options are set to show hidden files, and they are not found by
Search. Unfortunately, I couldn't find the file I modified. Anyway, I learnt
something. Thanks again.

 

[Bob I]

Yes, I believe the operating system folks call that feature "super
hidden", and as you found, you can't navigate to it.