Excel on MacOS saved file as *.MACTF. Where should I look for this file?

Question

Because the file I was editing was on a network drive, when I was closing Excel, it said that it couldn't save it in the original location (the network connectivity didn't work at that time), and it said it saved it in a file with .MACTF extension (screenshot of the exact message attached). However I cannot find any file with this name anywhere on my drive.

I did the following actions:

• searched in: ~/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Excel/Data/Library/Preferences/AutoRecovery (AutoRecovery doesn't exist there)
• searched in: $TMPDIR folder (/private/var/folders/)
• searched in: ~/Library/Caches/
• searched for *.MACTF files via Find in Finder
• searched for *.MACTF files via find command in Terminal (sudo find / -name .mactf -print)

No results whatsoever.

What else can I do to find this file? Or it is a completely wrong information that Excel provides and it didn't save this file at all?

Answer 1

Hello Sławek Balcerzak,

The behavior you're seeing follows how Excel saves files on network drives. When you saw the message about “saved to a temporary document (.MACTF)”, Excel was trying to create a temporary file in the same location then rename it to your final file. Because the network connection dropped, that process didn’t fully complete.

I suggest you try this:

 1) Reconnect to the same network location

 Reconnect Wi-Fi / VPN

 In Finder: Go > Connect to Server

 Open the exact folder where the original file was saved

2. Check that folder carefully

Sort by Date Modified (newest first) and look for: ED031B30.MACTF/ ED031B30

Any file with a random name created around the same time

Excel usually creates the temp file in this same folder, not on your local Mac

3. Use Terminal to search that folder (more precise)

find "/Volumes/YourShare/YourFolder" -iname "ED031B30" -o -iname "*.mactf"

4. If you find the file 

Copy it to Desktop first 

Open it in Excel (File > Open)

Then Save As > .xlsx to a local folder

5. If nothing is found

Do a quick permission check on that network folder:

• Try creating a file
• Try renaming it
• Try deleting it 

If any of these fail > Excel may not have enough permission (needs modify + delete) to complete the save process.

6. Last check (local search) 

sudo find / -iname "ED031B30" 2>/dev/null

Important note, If:

•  nothing exists in the network folder
•  nothing is found locally
• and Excel was already closed

 > the save likely failed before the temporary file was fully written, so there’s no recoverable file.

For reference, this temp-file save behavior was explained here: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/fe847711-96cf-5978-00ae-46e30db88982

If this happens again:

•  Don’t close Excel right away
•  Try Save As > Desktop while the file is still open
•  That gives you the best chance to keep your changes.

I hope this will help with your situation. Please feel free to reach back if you have further update or more questions.

Best Regards,

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Answer 2

Excel for Mac saves recovery information in its AutoRecover location, not as visible *.MACTF files in user‑accessible folders.

To look for any recoverable version of the workbook on macOS, use the documented AutoRecover paths instead of searching by the *.MACTF extension:

1. In Finder, select Go > Go to Folder… (or press Shift + Command + G).
2. Enter the Excel AutoRecover path, replacing <username> with the account name:

      /Users/<username>/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Excel/Data/Library/Application Support/Microsoft
   

3. Look for recently modified files in that folder (and any subfolders) that correspond to the time of the failure. Open them in Excel and immediately save under a new name if they contain the missing changes.

Notes from the product behavior:

• The AutoRecovery folder is hidden and typically will not appear if navigating manually; Go to Folder with the full path is required.
• If the workbook was ever closed with Don’t Save, any related AutoRecover file is deleted and cannot be recovered.
• AutoRecover is a best‑effort mechanism; if no suitable file exists in the AutoRecover path, the temporary *.MACTF reference shown in the dialog does not correspond to a user‑recoverable file.

If no recent file is found in the Excel AutoRecover location, the unsaved changes are not recoverable via Office for Mac.

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References:

• Recover files in Office for Mac
• Save a file in Office for Mac