Lost an Excel File and when I went to recover it was not the latest version

Question

I had been working on a excel document when my computer restarted. A window popped up asking if I wanted to save my recovered files and I accidentally selected no instead of yes. I quickly went to recover the file from my recycle bin, but when I opened the file it didn't have my latest changes. I back all my documents up to iManage so auto-save is always on. Is there anyway to recover my lost work?

I already looked in recovered files within excel but there was nothing there of use.

Answer 1

Hello Pey,

Thank you for your detailed description of the issue.

From what you described, it appears that the latest changes may not have been saved before the system restart, and the recovered version you accessed does not include those updates.

If the file is stored in iManage, the AutoSave behavior may differ from OneDrive/SharePoint, as it depends on how the iManage integration handles synchronization. Changes may not always be saved in real time if they were not fully synced before the interruption.

Since you mentioned that your documents are backed up to iManage, I would recommend checking directly within iManage for any available version history of the file. In many cases, iManage may retain previous or intermediate versions depending on how the synchronization is configured.

Please review the document’s version history or activity within iManage to see if a more recent version of the file is available there.

That said, there are still a few things you can check:

Check Version History
1/ Open the file in Excel.

2/ Go to File > Info > Version History.

3/ Review the list of previous versions and select one that was saved before the overwrite.

4/ Click Restore to recover that version.

Use Previous Versions (if File History is enabled)

Right-click the file in File Explorer.

1/ Select Properties > Previous Versions.

2/ Check if there is an earlier version available. Click Restore to revert to that version.

I hope this information is helpful. Since I do not have access to your device environment, there may be cases where my recommended solutions do not fully resolve the issue or other problems appear. If that happens, please update me right away with any new details. I will do my best to support you and help find a solution as quickly as possible.
Thank you in advance for your time and cooperation.

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Answer 2

If the recovered version was discarded in the Document Recovery prompt and nothing useful appears in Excel’s recovery locations, there is no supported way in Microsoft 365/Excel to get those unsaved changes back.

What can still be checked inside Office:

1. Document Recovery pane
   • When Excel is reopened after a crash or restart, the Document Recovery pane should appear automatically and list any recoverable files from:
     • The last manual save
     • The last AutoSave (for files stored in cloud locations supported by Office)
     • The last AutoRecover snapshot
   • From that pane, each listed version can be opened, reviewed, and saved using Open or Save As, or removed using Delete. Once No, remove the files. I have saved the files I need is chosen, those AutoRecover copies are removed and are not available again.
2. Recover Unsaved Workbooks
   • For Excel files that were never saved, the only built‑in location is:
     • File > Info > Manage Workbook > Recover Unsaved Workbooks.
   • If nothing useful appears there, Excel has no further unsaved versions to offer.
3. Earlier versions of a saved file
   • If the workbook was previously saved and AutoRecover was enabled, Excel can sometimes offer a version labeled (when I closed without saving):
     • Open the workbook.
     • Go to File > Info.
     • Under Manage Workbook, select the version labeled (when I closed without saving), then choose Restore (or Compare in Word; Excel only supports Restore).
   • If no such version is listed, Excel has no earlier AutoRecover version available.

Because the Document Recovery items were explicitly removed and the Excel recovery locations no longer show a newer version, Excel itself cannot restore the lost edits. Any further recovery would have to come from outside Excel (for example, versioning or backup features in iManage, if that system keeps its own file history), not from Microsoft 365’s built‑in recovery.

To reduce the risk in the future when the Document Recovery pane appears:

• Open each listed file and check the timestamps.
• Use Save As on the most recent versions that contain important changes.
• When closing the pane, choose Yes, I want to view these files later (safest option) if there is any doubt.

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References:

• Recover your Microsoft 365 files
• Recover an earlier version of an Office file
• Video: Recover Office files