Share via

Lost excel file on MAC or auto recover replaced version

Anonymous
2023-11-08T03:21:30+00:00

Hi all

I have an excel document that has disappeared on my MAC - I used it regularly and now can't find it. I have a document that has auto recovered at the end and I believe it may have recovered/replaced it with an older version. I have browsed the version history on that excel document but the version I was working on is not there. Is there anything i can do? I have looked at all excel documents on my mac and still can't find it.

Microsoft 365 and Office | Excel | For home | MacOS

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments No comments

2 answers

Sort by: Most helpful
  1. Anonymous
    2023-11-08T07:19:36+00:00

    Hello

    I’m Adeyemi and I’d be happy to help you with your question.

    I understand that you've lost an Excel file on your Mac and suspect it may have been replaced by an older version through AutoRecovery. Here are some steps you can take to try and recover your file:

    1. AutoRecovery: Excel has an AutoRecovery feature that periodically saves a copy of your file in the background. You can navigate to the AutoRecovery folder by using the Go To Folder tool and entering the following path: /Users/<username>/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Excel/Data/Library/Application Support/Microsoft. Replace <username> with your username. If you find the file you're looking for, open it in Excel and save it to a new location
    2. Time Machine: If you have Time Machine enabled on your Mac, you can recover the Excel file from Time Machine backups. Connect your Time Machine backup disk to your Mac, open the folder that contained the deleted Excel file, click the Time Machine icon located in the Menu Bar and choose Enter Time Machine. Locate the Excel file you want to recover using the timeline on the right edge of the screen, then click Restore
    3. OneDrive: If you've been saving your file to OneDrive, you can retrieve the file from there. Log into OneDrive, go to the Recycle Bin, find the deleted Excel file, right-click on the file and choose "Restore" to recover the deleted Excel file on your Mac
    4. Data Recovery Software: If the above methods don't work, you might consider using data recovery software like Disk Drill for Mac. After installing the software, click the Recover button next to the drive where your deleted Excel file was stored. Wait until Disk Drill finishes analyzing the drive, then look inside the recovery folders and locate the permanently deleted Excel file. Select it and click the Recover button

    I hope this helps.

    Give back to the community. Help the next person who has this issue by indicating if this reply solved your problem. Click Yes or No below.

    Kind regards, Adeyemi </username></username>

    20+ people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments No comments
  2. Jim G 134K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2023-11-11T00:30:50+00:00

    If you saved locally to your Mac, use Time Machine to locate the next most recent save and restore that copy.
    Learn how to use Time Machine to restore specific files

    Recover files using Time Machine and Spotlight on Mac

    If you saved your workbook to OneDrive or Sharepoint, follow this advice:
    Use version historyto restore a previous version.

    If you saved anywhere else, you need to use the recovery method appropriate for whatever device or file system you saved to.

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments No comments