Excel Not Saving Formatting Problems? Solutions Here!

No one can afford the loss of formatting done in the Excel spreadsheet. But sometimes the situation may arise where Excel won’t save formatting changes and due to this whole formatting is lost when reopening the Excel worksheet. Well, in this blog, I will explore the common causes and some of the working solutions to fix Excel not saving formatting issues in no time.

Why Is Excel Not Saving My Formatting?

Several factors can contribute to formatting is lost when reopen Excel worksheet. Though understanding these glitches can assist you fix and prevent future occurrences.

1. Restricted File Permissions– Insufficient file permissions such as to read, write, delete, or modify can cause formatting not to save.
2. Faulty Excel Add-ins– Sometimes, corrupted and faulty add-ins within Excel can lead to formatting issues.
3. Disk Space– Another foremost reason is the lack of storage space in the disk.
4. Corrupted Excel File– A corruption in an Excel document can even lead to Microsoft Excel not saving changes.
5. File Sharing– When multiple users work concurrently on the shared workbook.
6. Read-only Document– It might be possible that the owner or administrator of the file sets the document as read-only.

How to Fix Excel Not Saving Formatting Issue?

Use the following to resolve it. These fixes are very helpful for format retention mainly when you are trying to keep up the original file formatting.

Fix 1- Date Format Issue In Excel

Your assigned dates are changed to text, number, and another date format like MM/DD/YYYY is changed to DD/MM/YYYY or to any other format that Excel fails to recognize.

Example– Suppose you have entered the date September 6 in your Excel cell and after pressing the enter key, the assigned cell value is been converted to ‘Number.’

This shows that the number format of the cell is not properly synchronized with what users trying to get. The cell is already set with a number format that changes your input data to some numerical value. Thus, if you want to do so:

• Make a right-click on the cell having the date; now from the appearing list of options choose Format Cells.
• Go to the “number” tab, after that from the category list choose the “date” and then from the type box choose the date format as per your choice.

Also Read: Your Excel Lifesaver: Tips for ‘Unable to Save Excel Workbook’ Issue

Fix 2- Number Format Issue

Excel won’t save formatting changes that also arise when the Excel number is changed to Date, Text, or any other format that is not well supported. To fix such issues, users need to use fixes like Paste Special or Error Checking.

• Hit the cell and go to the Home tab from the Excel ribbon. After that click the down-arrow sign present in the number section.
• Here you will see the number format list along with the data present for each of the formats.

Fix 3- Clear Conditional Formatting

Many times, it happens that Excel freezes while working and doesn’t allow you to save your work in that case clearing the conditional formatting is the best option. Below are the steps that are given to perform conditional formatting:

• Open the Excel workbook.
• Click on Home>conditional formatting>clear rules>clear rules from an entire sheet

• At the bottom of the Excel sheet select any extra tab and redo the first step.
• Now, select file>save as.
• Make a copy of that spreadsheet in new.

If still, Excel won’t allow you to save formatting changes then apply the conditional formatting again.

Fix 4- Make A Fresh Start to Fix Excel Not Saving Formatting Problems

Usually, these kinds of issues are generated when the user tries to open Excel file of one system onto another. Or, when the new PC executes the older version of the Excel application.

In that case, you need to save your Excel files in widely accepted or native format but not in the older format. Well, you can easily do this by following these steps:

• Go to the File menu and choose Save As option.
• From the Save as Type list, choose the file format instead of the current file format.

Apart from this, formatting is lost when reopen Excel worksheet issue can also be fixed by transferring data from the current workbook to the new workbook.

Also Read: Fix Unable To Save Excel File To Shared Network Drives Error

Fix 5- Excel XLS or XLSX file corruption

Chances are also high that just because of the xls/xlsx file corruption, you are facing this problem. To repair corrupt Excel files, you can either use the inbuilt ‘Open and Repair’ tool or you can go with the Excel Repair Software. With this tool, you can easily recover conditional formatting, Chart, table formatting, and all your data formatting completely intact meanwhile Excel file restoring.

This software repair very efficiently repairs the damaged Excel file in just 3 simple steps, i.e. Select, Scan, and Save. Just save the repaired file either on the desired or default location.

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* Free version of the product only previews recoverable data.

Fix 6- Shift Original Worksheets To New One

• Just add a filler worksheet to your Excel workbook. For this, you need to press Shift+F11 from your keyboard.

Note:

Well, this sheet is compulsory to have because when all the relevant data sheets are removed then this sheet will remain.

• Now you need to group all the worksheets excluding the filler one. For this, choose the first datasheet, and press the shift key. After that choose the very ending datasheet.
• Make a right-click over the grouped sheets and choose the option “Move or copy”.

• From the To Book list, choose the (New Book).
• Hit the OK button.

Note:

This step will move your grouped or active worksheets to the new ones.

If your Excel workbook has VBA macros then you need to manually copy the modules from the old to a new workbook.

Fix 7- Save The Workbook To Network Drive Location

Sometimes location at which you are saving the file also leads to generating an Excel file that won’t save changes or formatting issues. So, try to save your Excel file in another location like a network drive, removable drive, or local hard disk.

Fix 8- Save New Workbook In The Original Location

If you need to save a new Excel file to the original location then follow these steps:

• Make an Excel workbook.
• Go to the File menu and choose the Save As option.

• This will open the Save As dialog box, where you need to perform the following steps.
• Under this Save in the dialog box, choose the location where the original Excel workbook has been saved.
• In the box of “File name” assign the name for your new file.
• Hit the Save button.

Fix 9- Run Workbook In Safe Mode

Run your Excel in safe mode and after that save the Excel workbook on the local hard drive. If you are using a network location for saving up the Excel workbook, then open Excel in safe mode along with the network support. After that try saving the Excel workbook.

Related FAQs:

How Do I Stop Excel from Automatically Changing the Cell Format While Reopening?

To stop Excel from automatically changing the cell format while reopening, go to the File menu > Options > Proofing. After this, click on AutoCorrect Options >> AutoFormat as You Type. Now, uncheck all the boxes for auto-formatting.

What Are the Types of Formatting in MS Excel?

There are four types of formatting in MS Excel, they are as follows:

• Cell Formatting
• Number Formatting
• Conditional Formatting
• Table Formatting

How to Repair an Excel File That Won't Save?

To repair an Excel file that won’t save, follow these steps:

• Navigate to File > Open.
• Choose the location to select the corrupted workbook.
• Click an arrow next to the Open button >> click on Open and Repair >> pick Repair.

Also Read: Autosave Not Working In MS Excel? 4 Ways To Fix It!

Wrapping Up

Maintaining your formatting in Microsoft Excel is important for creating professional & readable spreadsheets. However, by considering the major factors and implementing the solutions mentioned in this blog, you can easily solve Microsoft Excel not saving changes problem and ensure your Excel files always look their best.