How to Back Up Files Automatically in Excel 2016

Accidental deletions or changes to a file can ruin your day–if you don’t have a backup of your original file. Excel’s AutoBackup feature will help keep your data as safe as possible by saving a previous version of your spreadsheet automatically. Here’s how to use it.

excel autobackup files

AutoBackup makes a copy of your spreadsheet when you first save it. If you make changes to your original spreadsheet and save it but then change your mind about the changes, you can open the backup copy. Each time you save the original spreadsheet, AutoBackup updates the backup copy so it’s up to date and one version behind the original. To set it up, start creating your worksheet as usual. Then:

1. Go to File > Save As.

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2. For Excel 2016, click “More options…” under the save location. Earlier versions of Excel: skip this

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3. Click the Tools button then General Options in the Save As dialog window.

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4. Check the box next to “Always create backup”

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5. Click OK.

6. Click Save in the Save dialog window.

Now, every time you make a change in the original spreadsheet and save it, the backup file will be updated to reflect your spreadsheet before that last save.

How to Reduce Memory Usage in Google Chrome

If you use Google Chrome and notice your computer slowing down, you’re not alone — Google’s browser has a bit of a reputation for eating up RAM. 

If you don’t want to use Chrome’s  built-in task manager all the time, there are some extensions that can help you out.

Option 1: The Great Suspender

The Great Suspender places your apps in stasis, pausing them if you haven’t used them in a while. With one click, you can bring a page back from suspension and have memory allocated to tabs that are actually being used. Here’s how:

1. Click Add to Chrome on The Great Suspender in the Chrome Web Store.

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2. Click Settings on the resulting page.

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3. Fill out your settings, including how long to wait before suspending tabs, which tabs to whitelist and whether or not to suspend pinned tabs. Click Save Settings at the bottom of the page.

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4. Click in the blue box to make suspended tabs active again. They will refresh and be available to use.

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Option 2: OneTab

1. Click Add to Chrome on OneTab in the Chrome Web Store.

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2. Click on the funnel button among your extensions in the top right of the browser.
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3. Your tabs will be rolled into one tab directory. Click on a link to put it in a separate tab, or click Restore All to put them all in new tabs. Having all of your links in one tab should reduce memory usage.

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How to Stop Autoplaying Videos in Firefox

It happens all the time. You open a web page expecting to read a plain text article and you’re confronted by a video that starts rolling without your permission. Fortunately, if you’re on Firefox, there’s a built-in option that prevents videos from starting until you click their play buttons.

In our experience testing the feature, it worked pretty well, preventing autoplays on YouTube, on video ads we encountered and on a number of web articles we visited. However, if you’re on YouTube and you click from one video to another, without refreshing the page, the subsequent videos don’t require you to hit play.

Here’s how to disable autoplay videos in Firefox:

  • Launch Firefox, if it’s not already open.
  • Type “about:config” into the address bar and hit Enter. 

type about:config

  •  Enter “autoplay” into the searchbox beneath the address bar. A list of results should appear below.

type autoplay

  • Double click on media.autoplay.enabled. It should change from “true” to “false.” 

dboule click media.autoplay.enabled

From now on, the web videos will not autoplay.