How to Recover Unsaved Excel File

Have you ever been working on an Excel sheet when your PC crashed? The first thing that comes to mind is “Was the progress saved?” or “Did I press Ctrl+S to save the file?” The stress is unreal, as an unexpected power cut or crash can flush all your hard work down the drain.

Be it for a student or a professional, losing data due to unforeseen circumstances is a common occurrence.

If you have also encountered a similar problem, worry no more—this is the post that will save your data! Let us take a look at some of the ways to recover an unsaved Excel file.

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Best Ways to Recover Delete Excel Files – Windows

Method 1. Recovering Unsaved Excel Files From Windows PC

1. Launch Microsoft Excel.
2. Click File > Open > select Recent
3. At the bottom of the screen, you will find the Recover Unsaved Workbooks button:

4. Hit the button to get the list of unsaved files.

Here, you will find the recent version of the file you forgot to save before Excel crashed.

Configure the AutoRecover Settings in Excel

1. Launch Excel
2. Go to the File tab > click on Options

3. Click on the Save tab > Here, check the box next to ‘Save AutoRecover information every <> minute’ and ‘Keep the last autosaved version if I close without saving.’

Tip: Keep the auto recovery duration to a minimum. This ensures files get automatically saved, and you don’t lose them.

4. Click on OK.

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Method 2. Restore Previous Versions From File History

If the above step yielded no results, you can recover your overwritten Excel documents using the File History option. Remember that the feature works only if it was previously enabled and when using Excel 2010 or 2013.

This feature allows you to find and restore older versions of documents, Excel sheets, and other files.

Note: This will only work if the File History in Windows is enabled. The feature allows you to find and restore older versions of a document, excel sheet, or other files.

1.  Press Windows + E to open File Explorer.
2. Right-click the unsaved Excel file > select Restore previous versions.

3.  A window will appear, and you’ll see any previous versions you can restore.

Additional Tip: Keep a backup of Excel files

Data backup always saves us from losing essential documents. To use this feature in Microsoft Excel 2010 and 2013:

1. Launch Excel > go to the File tab > click ‘Save as.’
2. Next, click on the Browse tab at the bottom.
3. You will now get a Save as a window; at the bottom, you will find an option called Tools. From here, select ‘General Options’
4. Check on ‘Always create a backup in the new Window.

Every new Excel file you create will have a backup file. The backed-up Excel files have a .xlk extension.

Method 3: Recover Overwritten Excel Files (For OneDrive Users)

If you are an active OneDrive user, you can recover the overwritten file even if your local file history is turned off. OneDrive saves a version of every file for such situations and can help you whenever required.

• Launch the OneDrive App on your Windows PC.

• Spot the overwritten file.

• Right-click on the file and click on Version History.

• Spot the version you want to restore/download from the File History.

Thanks to OneDrive, you can simply download the previous version of the file and check whether that is the version you want to restore. This ensures that you do not roll back to an older version that you did not want.

Method 4: Recovering Deleted Excel Files

• Using Recycle Bin

If you have deleted the file you are looking for, you must turn your attention to the Recycle bin and check if it has the version you are looking for. If you have not used the permanent delete command (Shift+Del), you should be able to find your file in the recycle bin. Simply –

• Open the Recycle Bin from your desktop home screen.
• Check the files available for restore
• Select the Excel file and click the Restore button on the top bar.

This way, your deleted file will be restored instantly.

• Using OneDrive Backup

If you have permanently deleted the file from your computer, you can still find its backup on OneDrive. More importantly, if you use the OneDrive app on your computer and have deleted the file from that, you might still find a version of your Excel file in the OneDrive recycle bin.

• Visit the official website of Onedrive.
• Log in to your account and click on the recycle bin from the left pane.
• Spot the Excel file and restore it by right-clicking on it.

Recovered Unsaved Excel Files

To avoid facing these terrible situations, always create a backup to enable the autosave feature. These features will always come to your rescue. However, if, for some reason, you have forgotten to keep the backup or enable the Autosave feature, no worries, you have Advanced Disk Recovery.

Using this powerful data recovery tool, you can restore any file deleted for any reason. We hope you find the information helpful and will use the methods to retrieve unsaved Excel files. Please share your opinion with us in the comments section. For any product-related information, you can contact the technical team at support@systweak.com.

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