How to Recover an Overwritten PPT
By Jason Spidle
Microsoft PowerPoint is a slide show program bundled with the Microsoft Office suite. Files saved using Microsoft PowerPoint are stored using the PPT file extension. If you accidentally find that you have overwritten a saved PowerPoint file that you need to restore, you will be happy to know that Microsoft Windows includes an easy-to-use wizard for restoring files to previous versions. This feature is only available to Business and Ultimate users of Windows. If you use a personal copy of Windows, then you will need to rely on System Restore to recover an overwritten PowerPoint file.
Recover a PowerPoint PPT File with Previous Versions
Step 1
Navigate to the file location of the overwritten PowerPoint file using Windows Explorer.
Step 2
Right-click on the current file and select "Properties."
Step 3
Select the "Previous Versions" tab.
Step 4
Select a version of the PowerPoint file before the document was overwritten.
Step 5
Click "Restore" to recover the file as it was previously named or select "Copy" to create a new file name if you would like to keep the overwritten file.
Recover a PowerPoint PPT File with System Restore
Step 1
Launch System Restore by selecting "Start," "Programs" "Accessories" "System Tools" "System Restore."
Step 2
Select a point prior to when the PowerPoint was overwritten and then click "Next."
Step 3
Click "Finish" to begin the restore process. You will be prompted to restart your computer. This should restore the file to its previous state.
References
Warnings
- If using the System Restore method, be sure to first save the overwritten file under a new name if you need to keep that file also.
- System Restore will roll back any other changes made to the system between the restore date and the current time. So if you have installed additional programs or made other file changes, these will be lost with System Restore.
Writer Bio
Jason Spidle is a technology enthusiast and writer. His writing on computers, smartphones, Web design, Internet applications, sports and music has been published at a variety of websites including Salon, JunkMedia, Killed in Cars and The Columbia Free Times. Spidle maintains a number of blogs featuring poetry, short stories and other fiction.