All Excel spreadsheet reverting

Question

ALL my Excel spreadsheets are reverting back to 2023 versions. Why and how do I find the older versions and save them to my laptop?

Answer 1

The behavior described usually means the current files are either:

• older copies being opened from cloud storage (for example, OneDrive/SharePoint) instead of the latest ones, or
• files that have been rolled back to earlier versions via version history or file recovery.

To locate and save the older versions locally, use Excel’s version history and recovery features, then save the correct copy to the laptop.

1. Check and restore previous versions from OneDrive/SharePoint (Excel for the web)

If the workbooks are stored in OneDrive or SharePoint and opened in Excel for the web:

1. Go to the folder where the Excel file is stored (in OneDrive or SharePoint).
2. Right‑click the workbook name.
3. Select Version history.
4. In the panel that appears, review the list of saved versions with dates and times.
5. Select a version that matches the data expected (for example, before it “reverted” to 2023).
6. Click the three dots (more options) or dropdown next to that version and select Restore.
   • This replaces the current cloud version with the selected one.
7. Open the restored workbook in Excel and use File > Save As to save a copy directly to the laptop (for example, in Documents).

Note: Restoring a previous version replaces the current version in the cloud; any changes made after that version are lost.

2. Recover autosaved/unsaved versions from Excel on Windows

If the files are stored locally or opened in the desktop Excel app, Excel may have autosaved or auto‑recovered copies:

1. Open Excel.
2. Open the workbook that appears reverted.
3. Select File > Info.
4. Under Versions or Manage Versions, look for:
   • Recover Unsaved Workbooks (for newly created workbooks), or
   • Listed previous versions of the workbook.
5. Open the candidate versions and check their contents.
6. For the correct version, use File > Save As and save it to a known folder on the laptop.
7. Save stable copies in a different format or location (optional)

After recovering the correct versions, consider:

• Saving a local backup copy using File > Save As to a folder on the laptop (such as Documents).
• Optionally saving in another format (for example, a separate .xlsx copy or even .xls if compatibility with older Excel is required) using File > Save As and choosing the desired Save as type.

This ensures a local, independent copy that will not be affected if the cloud version is rolled back again.

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References:

• Restore a previous version of an Excel file
• Privacy supplement for Excel
• Save a workbook in another file format
• Save, back up, and recover a file in Microsoft Office