[4 Ways] How to Recover Corrupted/Lost CSV File

CSV, short for comma-separated values, is widely used to save alphanumeric tabular structure data. On your Windows computer, you can load or export CSV files using software that use a row column structure to store data, such as Microsoft Excel.

While Excel is not a user-friendly software for users, any wrong operations can cause data loss and you may lose important CSV files.

Why you need to recover CSV files? Are you encountering CSV file loss due to accidental deletion, misplacement of physical storage, closing unsaved CSV file by mistake, system crash, or any other unknown reasons.

Don’t worry, recovering CSV files in Excel is not an impossible task. Keep reading this guide, and you will learn four effective ways about how to recover CSV files in detail.

Way 1. How to recover CSV file from TMP File

You may not know but it does exist that Microsoft Office offers an AutoRecover option that saves all Excel files that are being edited as temp files to a designated location on the Windows C drive.

Depending on the version of Windows you use, the specific location may be Unsaved Files or the Temp folder. Therefore, follow the steps below to know how to recover unsaved and lost CSV file from TMP file.

Step 1. Locate the Excel temp files in the temp file folder on your PC. • For Windows 7: C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Excel\ • For Windows 8/10/11: C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Office\UnsavedFiles\

Step 2. Locate and select the Excel temp file by date, copy and save to another safe location with a different extension.

After that, remember to save the recovered CSV files somewhere safe in case an unexpected problem occurs again.

Way 2. How to recover CSV file from File History Backup

The File History Backup can help restore permanently deleted files in Windows 10/11. You can rely on it to get lost/deleted CSV files back.

The prerequisite of this method is that you already have a backup of your files. Otherwise, you will just receive a notice that there is no backup to restore. Therefore, it is advisable to backup excel files in advance to simply protect your data.

If you have enabled File Backup, then follow the steps to know how to recover CSV file from File History backup.

Step 1. Start the Control Panel, click System and Security.

Step 2. Click File History > In the next window, choose Restore personal files from the left pane.

Step 3. Locate your lost CSV file, then click the Recycle icon at the bottom of the screen to restore the files.

Way 3. How to recover CSV file using Windows File Recovery

You can also try the inbuilt Windows File Recovery. Since Windows 10 version 200 and later, you are able to get access to it from the Microsoft Store to recover lost files.

Here are detailed steps about how to recover Excel files saved in CSV using Windows File Recovery.

Step 1. Download Windows File Recovery from the Microsoft Store and install it on your PC.

Step 2. In the search box, type in Windows File Recovery > Choose the software and click Run as administrator.

Step 3. Check your file system by clicking This PC > Right-click the drive you lost files from > Click Properties.

Step 4. Choose a suitable mode to recover your CSV file.

File system	Circumstances	Recommended mode
NTFS	Deleted recently	Default
NTFS	Deleted a while ago	Segment, followed by Signature
NTFS	After formatting a disk	Segment, followed by Signature
NTFS	A corrupted disk	Segment, followed by Signature
FAT and exFAT	Any	Extensive

Step 5. Resemble your command lines with the following common switches.

Switches	Definition	Supported mode(s)
/n	Filter the scan range: scans for a specific file with its file name/path/type, etc.	All
/y:	Recover specific extension groups.	Signature
/k	Recovers system files.	NTFS Segment​​​​​
/u	Recovers undeleted files, for example, from the Recycle Bin.	NTFS Segment

Example: Enter winfr C: E:/regular /n*.csv to recover your CSV files from the C drive and save them on the E drive.

Note: The destination drive of the recovered files should be different from the drive where the files were lost.

Step 6. Enter y to continue and wait for the process to complete. Then, your recovered CSV files will be saved in the destination drive.

Way 4. Recommended: How to recover CSV file via MyRecover

How can you recover CSV files at highest success rate and cost the least labor? Here comes the most recommended method to recover CSV files via AOMEI Dara Recovery for Windows.

As a powerful data recovery software, it has got the most advanced scanning algorithm, helping scan and recover all lost CSV and other files no matter it is lost due to deletion, disk formatting, system crash, or more. Besides, the files recovered by MyRecover will keep their original format.

Get the powerful software on your Windows computer and recover CSV files in three simple steps.

Step 1. Open MyRecover on your computer > hover the mouse over the drive, and click Scan.

Step 2. Wait for the software to scan and list all the deleted and lost files. During the process, you can search the name of the file or folder to filter wanted files.

Step 3. Select the CSV files you’d like to recover > Click Recover x files to begin to recover process.

Summary

Hope you will know how to recover CSV files after reading this guide. You can either make use of the inbuilt functions to get CSV files back or rely on professional data recovery software - like MyRecover to make the recovery task simpler and more time-saving. If this guide helps you, please share it without hesitation.