3 Tested Methods to Recover Previous Version of PPT Files

How do I recover a previous version of a PPT file I saved over?

“I and my friend are both supposed to hand over a presentation PPT file to our teacher tomorrow. She finished her PPT this morning. When I was doing mine, I should have opened a new file, but I thought I can just use her PPT as a template and make changes to the contents. When finished, I was supposed to click Save As, but I mistakenly clicked Save. So my version of the PPT file overwrote hers. How do I recover a previous version of a PPT file to get her homework back?”

When your files got overwritten, don’t panic, you are able to recover the previous version of them, no matter if you’re trying to recover the previous version of an excel file or a PowerPoint file.

How to recover previous version of PPT files [3 methods]

Here in this section, you’ll learn 3 options on how to recover previous version of PPT files.

Option 1. Check version history in Microsoft PowerPoint

When you create a PowerPoint presentation, Microsoft PowerPoint automatically backs up copies of your PowerPoint files so that you can access them later. If you accidentally overwrite the original PPT files, here’s how to recover an older version of a PowerPoint file.

 Step 1. Open the PowerPoint file, and click File in the menu bar.

Step 2. In the left pane, click Info.

Step 3. Click Version History on the right.

Step 4. Microsoft PowerPoint sorts previous iterations of the document. Click Open version beneath the version you want to return to in order to load an earlier version of the presentation.

Step 5. By doing this, an older version of your PowerPoint file will be displayed in a read-only file. Click the Restore button located directly beneath the ribbon menu To return to the previous version.

Tips: Why I can’t find previous versions in Version History?

This is probably because that you haven’t turned on the AutoRecover feature before the PPT file got overwritten. Navigate here: File > Options > Save > make sure you have AutoRecover option ticked. You can also set the AutoRecover to save intervals to occur more frequently than its default setting of every 10 minutes.

Option 2. Recover overwritten versions of PowerPoint files using the File History

Another option on how to recover overwritten PPT file in Windows 10 is using File History. Before you use this method, make sure you’ve enabled the File History feature before the file is overwritten.

Step 1. Go to the original location of the PPT file you overwrote> right-click the file > click Restore Previous Versions.

Step 2. Then the file’s Properties dialog box appears. Choose the version you want to recover.

Step 3. Click the triangle icon beside the Restore button > choose Restore or Restore To. You could both recover it to its original location or to a place you preferred.

Tips: Why I can’t find available previous versions in Previous Versions?

You may occasionally see the message “There are no previous versions available”. This is most likely due to two factors.

First, you haven’t enabled File History. Go to System and Security in the Control Panel > File History. This is where you can see if you have this feature enabled.

Second, File History only backs up copies of files stored on the Documents, Music, Pictures, Videos, and Desktop folders on your computer. Your overwritten PPT file might not be included in these folders.

Option 3. Recover PowerPoint files using System Restore

You can also recover deleted PowerPoint files with System Restore in Windows 10/11. Please refer to the following steps.

Step 1. Enter “Create a restore point” in the search box and Open it in the control panel.

Step 2. Click System Restore > Next.

Step 3. Select a restore point from the list and Scan for affected programs to confirm the items that will be wiped out after the restoration process. Then Close the window.

Step 4. After checking your selected restore point, click Finish > Next.

Step 5. Click Yes to begin the restoration process. Once started, System Restore cannot be interrupted. After that, you can Close the last window.

Bonus tip: How to recover deleted and unsaved PPT files in Windows 10, 11

Here in this part, we’ll provide you with two methods to recover deleted and unsaved PowerPoint files respectively.

How to recover deleted PPT files via data recovery software

You can also recover deleted PowerPoint files using cost-free yet effective data recovery software, like MyRecover, if you accidentally deleted important old PowerPoint files.

Easy-to-operate. Within 3 simple steps, it enables you to recover lost or deleted files from Windows.

Overall. It can be used in a number of Windows file loss scenarios, such as restoring files from formatted drives or corrupted partitions or recovering files after system crashes or virus attacks, etc. 

High-speed. It quickly locates lost files.

High recovery rate. Even if they were permanently deleted, it has a high recovery rate for your files.

Widely-compatible. It supports NTFS, FAT32, exFAT, and ReFS in Windows 11/10/8/7 & Windows Server.

Thorough. It can recover lost/deleted texts, pictures, videos, audios, emails, compressed files, etc., in original format.

Download, install and launch MyRecover on your computer.  

Step 1. Hover the mouse over the drive saved deleted PPT files before, and click Scan.

Step 2. Then the scanning process will start automatically. You don’t need to wait for the process to complete if you find the PowerPoint files you want to recover.

Step 3. Choose the PowerPoint files that you want to recover. Click Recover xx files and choose a destination path to save the restored PowerPoint files.

How to recover unsaved PowerPoint files after an unexpected crash

If you had an unexpected crash and lost your PowerPoint file without saving it, you can recover unsaved PowerPoint files by following the steps below.

Step 1. Start PowerPoint > come to the Welcome page > click Recover unsaved presentations.

Step 2. Come to the Document Recovery screen, all recoverable PPT files will be listed. Choose the one you want to restore.

The Bottom Line

This post primarily introduces three methods to recover previous version of PPT files. Please pay attention to the tips while using these two methods. Besides, we provide you with methods to recover deleted and unsaved PPT files.  

What’s more, if you’ve made backups of your PPT files regularly, you can restore your needed files from these backups directly. Perhaps you can use this freeware - AOMEI Backupper to make a PPT file backup.