Losing important Excel files automatically on the Windows system can be very painful. There are several reasons, like sudden power failure, system crash, virus or malware attacks, etc. why your unsaved Excel file gets deleted from your system. If you ever encountered the loss of Excel spreadsheets, don’t panic. There are some quick and free data recovery methods that you can try to get your deleted Excel files back. Here we’ll discuss easy steps to recover unsaved Excel files on Windows; just go with these easy-to-follow DIY methods to recover unsaved Excel files.
What Causes the Deletion of Excel Files on Windows?
As mentioned above, there are many reasons for the deletion of unsaved Excel files on the Windows system. It is important to find the exact cause of this issue. Some of the main reasons are:
- Your Excel software may crashes or the system shut down unexpectedly before saving your work. This may lead to the deletion of any unsaved changes in your Excel files.
- Sudden power failure when you are working on the Excel file lead to their loss without
- If your computer automatically installs updates or restarts, any unsaved Excel files may be lost if you haven’t saved them prior to update installation.
- Instances may occur when you have accidentally closed the Excel file without saving your work. In such cases, unsaved changes in the Excel file will get deleted.
To avoid any of the above-mentioned scenarios for the loss of your Excel files, make a habit to save your work frequently or enable the auto-save option, if available.
How to Recover Unsaved Excel Files on Windows?
Whatever is the reason for the sudden deletion or loss of your Excel files, you can recover them easily using proper Windows data recovery methods. In this section, we will discuss such recovery methods to get the deleted Excel files back:
Method 01: Use the AutoRecover Feature
Microsoft Excel has an in-built AutoRecover feature that you can use to save your Excel files at fixed intervals of time. This option is very helpful to recover files if you have forgotten to save them and accidentally close the Excel software or if there is an unexpected system shutdown. Go through the following steps to recover unsaved Excel files on Windows using the AutoRecover feature:
- Open the new Excel File and go to File > Options.
- Now, go to Save from the left navigation pane and then click Save Workbooks.
- After that, check and ensure that the boxes next to the ‘Save AutoRecover information every’ and ‘Keep the last autosaved version if I close without saving’ option is selected.
- Copy the file path next to the AutoRecover file location. Then, open the File Explorer and paste the path in the menu bar and press Enter key.
- This will open the unsaved Excel file with .xlb extension, double-click the file and choose Excel from the list of apps to open the .xlb file.
- At last, save the file to the desired location.
Method 02: Use the “Recover Unsaved Workbooks” Option
Another important feature to recover unsaved Excel files is by using the “Recover Unsaved Excel File” feature. All you have to do is:
- Launch Excel and click File > Open. Scroll down and click the Recover Unsaved Workbooks option.
- Now, you will get a list of all your unsaved Excel files in the Document Recovery pane.
- Locate and double-click on the file that you need to recover.
- At last, right-click on the version of the file that you want to restore and tap the Save As button to save the selected file at the desired location.
Method 03: Recover Unsaved Excel File Using Data Recovery Software
If the above methods fail to recover unsaved Excel files on a Windows system, you can try using free data recovery software, such as the Stellar Data Recovery Free tool. This all-in-one software can help you to restore Excel files deleted due to any reason on both Windows and MacOS systems.
Amazing Features of Stellar Data Recovery Tool
- The software can recover files deleted due to any reason, including accidental deletion, partition error, formatted device, etc.
- It can recover deleted files of multiple types, such as your photos, videos, audio, documents, and other type of files.
- Support recovery of deleted files from HDDs, SSDs, and other internal or external storage devices.
- Allow you to preview the recoverable files before saving them on your device.
Step-by-Step Instructions to Recover the Previous Version of Excel File Using Stellar Data Recovery Free Tool:
- Download and install the Stellar Data Recovery Free tool on your device. Launch the software and select the type of file you need to recover and click the “Next” button.
- Now, select the storage location from where you need to recover the unsaved Excel file and tap the “Scan” button.
- Once the scanning process gets completed, preview the recoverable files and tap the “Recover” button to save the recovered data.
Wrapping Up:
The aforementioned easy steps to recover unsaved Excel files on the Windows system will definitely help you to get your files back. If the manual methods anyhow fail to recover your unsaved file, you can use a professional data recovery tool, such as the Stellar Data Recovery Free tool. It is a 100% safe and secure tool to restore your deleted files in a few simple clicks. Just download this free data recovery tool and enjoy a free trial to get your unsaved Excel files back.