How can I recover an excel file that did not autosave and did not offer auto-recover?

Dear @Nicholas, 

Welcome to the Q&A Community. 

Thank you for sharing the details of your concerns. Based on your description, I'd like to offer the following insights and recommendations to help address the issue. 

1.Check for Unsaved Workbooks 

Even if AutoSave was off, Excel may have created a temporary recovery file: 

Step 1: Open Excel 

Step 2: Go to File > Open > Recent 

Step 3: Scroll to the bottom and click “Recover Unsaved Workbooks” 

Step 4: Look for your file in the list and open it 

Step 5: If found, immediately Save As to a secure location 

2. Manually Search the Unsaved Files Folder 

Step 1: Navigate to the default AutoRecover location: 

C:\Users<YourUsername>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Office\UnsavedFiles 

Step 2: Replace <YourUsername> with your Windows username 

Step 3: Look for files with extensions like .asd, .tmp, or .xlsx 

Step 4: Open them in Excel and save if they contain your data 

3. Look in the Recycle Bin 

If you accidentally deleted any files, check your Recycle Bin to see if your workbook is there. 

4. Search the Windows Temp Folder 

Sometimes Excel stores temporary versions in the system temp folder: 

Step 1: Open File Explorer 

Step 2: Type %TEMP% in the address bar and press Enter 

Step 3: Sort by Date Modified 

Step 4: Look for files starting with ~ or ending in .tmp 

Step 5: Rename the file extension to .xlsx and try opening it in Excel 

5. Check OneDrive or SharePoint Version History 

If the file was originally stored in OneDrive or SharePoint, you may be able to restore a previous version: 

Step 1: Right-click the file in OneDrive 

Step 2: Select Version History 

Step 3: Restore the version closest to your last known edit 

If you've tried all recovery steps and still can't locate the file, I'm truly sorry. Unfortunately, if the file was never saved, there's no way to recover the unsaved data. I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and the negative experience this may have caused. 

To help prevent this issue in the future, we recommend saving your Excel file as soon as you begin working on it and enabling AutoSave. By saving the file to OneDrive or SharePoint, AutoSave will automatically back up your changes in real time, minimizing the risk of data loss due to unexpected closures or system issues. 

  Please know that we truly appreciate your patience and understanding as we strive to support you. We are here to help. Thank you very much for your understanding and cooperation.     

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