[Free] How to Recover Unsaved or Deleted Excel File

Help! Can I recover the Excel file?

Due to various reasons, your Excel file may have disappeared! Do not worry when such disasters occur. On this page, you can learn to easily recover lost Excel files with the help of professional data recovery software and other useful tips. The included solutions work with Microsoft Excel 2019, 2016, 2013, 2010, 2007 or earlier versions.

How to recover unsaved Excel file in Windows 10/11

Here, 4 effective methods will be offered to recover an Excel file not saved. Read and find the method that suits you most.

▶ Method 1. Recover unsaved Excel file from Excel 2016

This one applies to recovering unsaved Excel files in Microsft Excel 2016. If you mistakenly delete an Excel file in Windows 10 or 11, please scroll down to the next part and learn the corresponding methods.

Step 1. Open the unsaved Excel file. Click the “File” tab and select “Info” > “Manage Workbook” to find all the previous versions of this Excel file.

Step 2. Click “Recover unsaved Workbooks”. It will open the Excel recovery file location.

Step 3. Select the Excel file version you want to restore and click Open. Then, specify a name for it and save it on your computer.

▶ Method 2. Recover never-before-saved Excel file

If your Excel file is a completely new one, try “Recover Unsaved Workbooks” in the recent open workbooks.

Step 1. Open a new Excel file. Click the “File” tab and select “Open” and “Recent”.

Step 2. Scroll down to the bottom and click the “Recover Unsaved Workbooks” option. It will open the unsaved Excel file location.

Step 3. Scroll the list and search the unsaved Excel file. Double-click to open and save it.

▶ Method 3. Recover a previously saved Excel file

If you previously saved an Excel file, you could open it again and check the “Document Recovery” pane.

Step 1. Open the previously unsaved Excel file.  You will then see a "Document Recovery" pane on the left.

Step 2. Check the Excel files in the Documents Recovery pane. Double-click to open and save it.

▶ Method 4. Recover unsaved Excel file with AutoRecover

If the unsaved Excel file is not in the recovery file location, you need to check the location and directly go to the AutoRecover file location to recover files.

Step 1. Open an unsaved Excel file. Click the “File” tab and select “Options”.

Step 2. Click the “Save” option. Then, locate the AutoRecover file location and copy it.

Step 3. Paste the AutoRecover file location in Windows Explorer and navigate to it. Check the unsaved Excel file and save it.

How to recover deleted Excel files with Ease - 3 Methods

If you delete an Excel file, it will be saved to Recycle Bin automatically. So you can check if it contains the deleted Excel file and restore the deleted files from the Recycle Bin. If not, you still can try Microsoft Windows File Recovery or powerful data recovery software.

▶ Method 1. Restore deleted Excel file from Recycle Bin

If you deleted the Excel file from the original location, it would be removed from the Recycle Bin. It’s very easy to restore the deleted files from the Recycle Bin. Follow the steps below to recover the deleted Excel sheets.

Step 1. Double-click the Recycle Bin icon on your desktop to open the Recycle Bin.

Step 2. Search or find the Excel file you need.

Step 3. Right-click the Excel file and click “Restore”. The Excel file will be recovered to the original folder.

▶ Method 2. Recover deleted Excel file with Windows File Recovery

Windows File Recovery is a free data recovery tool released by Microsoft in 2020 to help users recover deleted or lost files on their computers. It offers two basic modes to recover files with different file systems and is suitable for different file loss scenarios.  

• Regular mode: This is the standard mode to recover deleted files, and it applies to a healthy (not corrupted) NTFS drive.
• Extensive mode: This mode will scan your drive thoroughly, and it applies to all file systems.

Step 1. Get Windows File Recovery in the Microsoft Store.

Step 2. Open it and type the command line based on its syntax.

winfr source-drive: destination-drive: [/mode] [/switches]

For example, to recover a deleted Excel file named unsaved file from E: drive to D: drive, you need to type as follow:

winfr E: D: /regular /n *.excel

Notes:✎...

/n switch is to scan for a specific file with its file name/path/type, etc.

* is to filter the file type.

▶ Method 3. Recover Deleted Excel files via MyRecover

Similar to Windows File Recovery, MyRecover is a file recovery software for Windows 10 or 11. It helps to recover deleted Excel files easily and quickly with simple steps. By default, it will start a quick scan to find deleted files and files in the Recycle Bin and then deep scan for other files. Please download this powerful file recovery software to recover deleted or lost Excel files effectively. 

Step 1. Download and install MyRecover on your computer and then hover the mouse over the partition for data recovery. Click Scan.

Step 2. The data recovery program will automatically start a quick scan and deep scan to find all of your deleted Excel file.

Step 3. Select the Excel files you want to recover and click "Recover files" to save them to another partition. You are not required to wait for the scanning to complete if you find the data you need.

Step 4. Then, select a new location to save your Excel file.  Don’t recover deleted Excel to its original location. This operation may result in permanent file loss.

How to recover Excel file form Backup - 2 Methods

Sometimes you overwrite an Excel file, but want to recover Excel file to the previous version, try to recover Excel file saved from File History or OneDrive.

 ▶ Method 1. Restore file to the previous versions

If you want to restore the folder to the previous versions, you need to open File History first to back up the important data. Otherwise, you could use the method 3-Windows File Recovery to recover permanently deleted Excel files freely.

Step 1. Click on the search bar, type “Restore” and select “Restore your files with File History”. It will open File History window.

Step 2. Click the left arrow to find the folder containing the previous version of your Excel file. Select it and click “Restore” to recover the Excel file to the previous version.

▶ Method 2. Recover overwritten Excel file with Onedrive

Step 1. Go to onedrive.live.com and locate the overwritten Excel file.

Step 2. Right-click the overwritten Excel file and select “Version history”.

Step 3. Identify the version of your Excel file to restore and click Restore or Download to save it.

Bonus tip - How to prevent lost files in Excel

Excel does most of the work if you need to recover unsaved Excel files in Windows 10 or 11. It enables both AutoSave and AutoRecover features by default. Just in case, you need to check they are working as normal.  

Besides, you can make a backup of your Excel file every time you save it. It saves the last version of your Excel file before you save the latest changes and allows you to easily restore previous of your Excel files.

▶ Method 1. Enable AutoSave and AutoRecover to Protect Excel File

Step 1. Open an Excel file. Select “File” > “Options”.

Step 2. Click “Save” in the Options window. Be sure the “Save AutoRecover information” box and “Keep the last AutoRecovered version if I close without saving” box are both checked.

★Tips:

 The time interval for "Save AutoRecover information" is 10 minutes. You can change it to shorter or longer.

 On some Excel versions, the AutoSave feature is on the top left. If it’s turned off, click it to turn on.

▶ Method 2. Always create a backup copy of Excel file

Step 1. Open an Excel file you want to make a backup copy. Click “File” and “Save As”.

Step 2. Click “Browse” to open the Save as window.

Step 3. Click “Tools” at the bottom. Then, select “General Options” from the drop-down menu.

Step 4. Check the “Always create backup” option and click “OK” to confirm it. Then, the Excel will save a copy of this Excel file in the same folder.

More FAQs about Excel file recovery

✍ Where are Excel recovery files stored?

By default, Excel saves unsaved files to C:\Users\\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Office\UnsavedFiles. If you cannot find your Excel file, you need to check the AutoRecovery file location in File > Info > Manage Workbook.

✍ Can I recover an Excel file that has been replaced?

Yes, you can restore Excel files to the previous version as long as you back up the Excel file with File History or OneDrive. It saves multiple versions of your Excis

✍ Why are there no previous versions of my Excel files?

The previous version comes from File History or restore points. If you don’t backup your Excel file with File History or have a working restore point, you will not see file versions under the Previous Version tab.

Wrap things up

This article offers you 9 effective methods to recover unsaved or deleted Excel files from Windows 10/11. You can select them based on your situation. MyRecover is a professional data recovery software to restore deleted files from computers. Try it if you mistakenly delete your Excel file.

To avoid overwriting or further corrupting the data you seek to restore, stop using the storage device that saved the file until you have completed Excel file recovery. Besides, you can choose to enable AutoSave and AutoRecovery features as well as backup the Excel file to protect it safely.