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A very unusual problem haunts my colleague
From time to time when she works with Excel 2010 (numerous workbooks, some of them quite large), the computer "decides" to undo everything that was done since the last save. You can see on the screen how past actions are being undone one after another. After that they cannot be redone back, as the button is grayed out. I've never seen such problem on any other PC I've worked on, but I witnessed with my own eyes how this happened on hers.

A Quick look at opened workbooks didn't show any VBA macros. I didn't look inside every worksheet though--as there were probably a hundred or so of them. I also suspect this has nothing to do with macros as running a macro immediately clears Undo list. This happens not too often, probably once in week or so and I cannot replicate this because it happens sporadically and just on one PC.

Just for clarification - this happens when file is opened. Not when it is saved and reopened (which was a problem some time ago with shared workbooks).

Any ideas what causes this?
Where should I look for clues?

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  • 2
    Sorry, are you saying things undo like it is being animated? You can see each step being undone?
    – Dave
    May 28, 2014 at 14:18
  • Are the workbooks being saved/stored on your colleague's local hard drive or on a network drive/cloud?
    – PFitz
    May 28, 2014 at 14:23
  • Try disabling macro's completely (I know you've searched for VBa). See if occurs on another machine but the same work book
    – Dave
    May 28, 2014 at 14:24
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    I know it's not easy to replicate, so your findings will take time. First off, copy the file to another computer and see if the issue persists. This will limit it to file or not. On the faulting computer, under the trust center, disable all macros (I know you've checked but, just to test it). You could also try disabling the Auto Recovery option in Excel.
    – Dave
    Jun 2, 2014 at 8:12
  • 4
    @DennisSakva, ah, this is actually well documented (well, I should say well complained about) on the forums... the MS Answers site has this question repeatedly. I'm sorry, I think this is a bug with Excel and it's version control... and only MS can fix this!
    – Dave
    Jun 3, 2014 at 11:58

4 Answers 4

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You may want to do your own versioning - Saving a new file as FileName_Date.xlsx

I'd also check the autorecovery settings to see how often it's saving / where and consider turning it off.

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This could be because it's one single machine.
- You could also check if ctrl and z buttons are stuck.
- If any other software or applications are running which may be causing this.

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Very simple solution. Install a key-logger (there are legit uses to them including this one). Keep working in excel as usual. Once that problem occurs go and look back at the log and you will be surprised to see that Ctrl+Z was logged.

Trust me on this one. Her Ctrl key is fixed and her Z key is also malfunctioning.

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Wireless mouse!!! This is not an April Fool answer!!

They are capable of random movement of the pointer and of click actions:

Typically, they contain two batteries and will illuminate with just one. Batteries are often left in for so long that they leak and corrode the connections. Eventually, the circuits are temporarily starved of voltage and this is what causes the malfunction, which humans prefer to believe is a virus, etc.

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