Office Settings & Configuration

How to Reopen Workbooks in Excel After an Update or Restart

Guest Writer Oct 8, 2026 869 views

Question details

The user needs a way to automatically restore or reopen multiple previously open workbooks in Excel after a system restart or application update.

How to Reopen Workbooks in Excel After an Update or Restart

Product: Excel for Microsoft 365
Device & OS: Windows
Scenario: Recovering a workspace setup with multiple open workbooks after the Excel application updates or the computer restarts.
Observed behavior: Excel launches successfully but fails to automatically reopen the workbooks that were active before the restart, requiring the user to manually hunt for and reopen each file.

Before you start

Before applying system updates or restarting your computer, ensure you manually save all active workbooks and note their file paths, as Excel does not natively restore your session like Microsoft Word does.

Solution 1Recommended

Pin Important Workbooks to the Recent List

Pinning your essential files ensures you do not have to search your computer or SharePoint folders to reopen them after a restart.

Since Excel lacks a reliable built-in 'restore previous session' feature, pinning frequently used workbooks is the fastest native workaround to rebuild your workspace manually.

Access the Recent Files list

Open Microsoft Excel. From the startup screen, look at the 'Recent' tab, or if a blank workbook is open, click 'File' and then select 'Open'.

Locate your workbooks

Scroll through your recently opened files to find the workbooks you had open before the restart.

Pin the files

Hover your mouse over the name of a workbook and click the pushpin icon that appears on the right side. This will lock the file to the 'Pinned' tab for instant access in the future.

Pin Important Workbooks to the Recent List

SharePoint Files: Files opened directly from SharePoint will also appear in this Recent list, which helps consolidate both local and cloud files in one place.

Solution 2

Use the XLSTART Folder for Auto-Launch

Placing shortcuts of your most-used workbooks in the XLSTART folder forces Excel to open them automatically every time the application launches.

Solution 3

Designate a Custom Startup Folder

You can configure Excel settings so that all workbooks placed within a specific dedicated folder open automatically upon startup.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Why doesn't Excel restore previous sessions like Microsoft Word?

Unlike Microsoft Word, which often provides a reliable restore-previous-session feature after closures or updates, Microsoft has not natively implemented this capability in Excel for Windows desktop. Excel currently only offers a Document Recovery pane for files that crashed or closed unexpectedly without saving.

Can I use a macro to reopen my previous Excel session?

Yes, advanced users can use VBA (Visual Basic for Applications) to create a custom macro that logs the file paths of all open workbooks into a text file upon closing Excel. A secondary macro can then be set to read this text file and automatically reopen those workbooks the next time Excel starts.

Why do SharePoint files clutter my Recent list in desktop Excel?

When you open workbooks directly from SharePoint or OneDrive, Excel logs these cloud paths in your desktop Recent files list to facilitate easy cloud collaboration. However, this shared list can sometimes push locally saved files further down, making them harder to find after a restart.

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