9 Ways How to Recover Deleted or Unsaved Excel Files on Mac

Q: Where are AutoRecover files saved Excel?

Excel saves AutoRecover Files to this location: /Users/<username>/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Excel/Data/Library/Application Support/Microsoft.

You can hardly find a computer user who never experienced either a crash of MS Office apps, or an unexpected power-down of their Mac, or Mac computer crash, leading to loss of unsaved MS Office (Word, Excel) documents. Instead of redoing all the work that was lost, just grab a copy of Disk Drill and recover Mac documents that are highly possible to still be available. Disk Drill can help even when MS Office keeps loading an incorrect version of the document you were working on.

Launch Disk Drill, find the partition/logical volume within the main system disk where MS Office is installed, click Recover to run all the recovery methods, or head on to Deep Scan right away. But we don't want to miss out on Quick Scan either. Depending on exact timing and cause of the crash, it's possible that Quick Scan may pick the temporary file as well, and potentially in a better condition than the one recovered by Deep Scan.

Recover Lost and Deleted Excel Files with Disk Drill for Mac

1. Download and Install Recovery Software for Mac

Download and install Disk Drill for Mac to your computer or an external storage device. Do not perform the download and install on the disk that has lost data because this may result in overwriting the files you want to recover. If recovering from your main disk, we suggest using a flash drive for the software.

2. Choose the Device where your important Excel files were lost

Launch Disk Drill and select the device for recovery from the app’s disk list. If you are attempting to recover unsaved versions of an Excel file on Mac from an external device, connect it to your machine before launching the recovery software.

3. Scan for Lost Data

Click the Recover (Scan for lost data) button to start Disk Drill’s scanning algorithms. Let the software run all of its scanning procedures in the optimal order or select the type of scan you wish to run. Choose a Quick scan to find recently deleted items or a Deep scan to scavenge the media for long lost data.

How to recover deleted files on Mac

4. Select and Preview the Recoverable Excel files

Files can be previewed as they are discovered so you can verify your recovery selections. Choose the files that you want to restore and designate a new storage location where they will be saved. Avoid using the disk that had lost data or you risk overwriting your files before they can be recovered.

5. Recover Your Lost Excel Files

Click the Recover button to perform the recovery. When the process completes, your files will be ready to use in the new storage location that you specified. Disk Drill can recover an Excel file saved as a CSV file on Mac as well as those in XLSXLSX format.

Recover Files from Internal or External Drives on Mac

Recover Lost Excel Documents on Mac From any Device

Disk Drill can recover an unsaved version of an Excel file on Mac computers from any type of disk-based storage device. From your internal hard drive to memory cards, if you can connect it to your Mac, Disk Drill can scan it and recover lost data.

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Protect Your Excel Work Folder

Disk Drills data protection algorithms have zero impact on system performance, are totally safe to run, and offer potentially huge benefits. Recovery Vault provides multiple ways to increase the chances of a successful recovery. Guaranteed Recovery ensures that you will never lose your most important data. These two data protection options can be configured to protect designated files and folders and can be enabled in Disk Drill at any time. Both tools are completely free to use!

How to Recover Excel Documents on Mac with Other Methods

Here are some other methods to recover unsaved Excel files on Mac.

METHOD 1

Recover Lost Excel docs from the Temporary Folder

Your Mac has a temporary folder that may contain your deleted Excel files. Use the following steps to see if they are there.

Open Terminal.
Type: cd $TMPDIR.
Type: ls to display the files in the directory. Look in the TemporaryItems subfolder.
If you find your files, copy them to a new storage location.

Recover Lost Excel docs from the Temporary Folder

METHOD 2

Recover Unsaved Excel Files on a Mac with AutoRecovery

If you have lost an Excel file due to a sudden crash or power failure causing your Mac to crash, there’s a chance that the application automatically saved a copy of the file you were working at the time. You may be able to recover unsaved changes in Excel. Here’s how to recover an unsaved Excel file when your Mac dies with MS Office’s AutoRecovery feature.

Make hidden folders visible on your Mac with the Command+Shift+Dot (.) keystroke combination. Then go to this folder to see if your file has been automatically saved.

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

Click on the file of your choice and open it in Excel and then save it to a new location.

Recover Unsaved Excel Files on a Mac with AutoRecovery

METHOD 3

Recover an Unsaved Excel File From Recent Workbooks

Here’s how to recover an unsaved Excel file from a MacBook or other type of Mac computer.

Open Excel.
Go to the File tab and click Open.
Click on the Recent Workbooks option on the top left.
Now scroll to the bottom and click on Recover Unsaved Workbooks button.
Scroll through the list and search for the lost file.
Double-click on it to open it.
The document will open in Excel. Now use the Save As option to save the file.

Recover an Unsaved Excel File From Recent Workbooks

METHOD 4

Recover Deleted Excel Files from the Trash

Here’s how to restore an Excel file on Mac from the Trash.

Open the Trash by clicking on its icon.
Locate the file you wish to recover.
Right-click and select the Put Back option to restore the item.

Recover Deleted Excel Files from the Trash

METHOD 5

Recover Deleted Excel Files from a Backup

Use these steps to restore your lost Excel files from a Time Machine backup.

Connect the storage media that contains the Time Machine backup to your computer.
Open a Finder window in the folder that contained the lost or deleted Excel file.
Open Time Machine by clicking the clock icon on the Menu bar.
Locate the items you want to restore using onscreen navigation.
Select an item and preview it by pressing the Space Bar if you wish.
Click Restore to recover the selected item.

Recover Deleted Excel Files from a Backup

Method 6

Recover an Online Excel File Using AutoSave

Newer versions of Microsoft Excel come with a feature called AutoSave. When enabled, this feature automatically saves your file every few seconds as you work, making it virtually impossible to lose any significant number of important changes.

The AutoSave feature can be enabled only for files that are stored on OneDrive, OneDrive for Business, or SharePoint Online. Here’s what you need to do to restore an AutoSaved file:

Launch Excel.
Open the File menu a choose Open.
Click the Online Locations button.
Select the file you want to restore.
Click Open.

Recover an Online Excel File Using AutoSave

Method 7

Recover Your Excel Files from a Third-Party Cloud Backup Service

Cloud backup services like Dropbox, Google Drive, and MEGA offer desktop apps that you can install on your Mac and use to back up your Excel files in real time.

While each cloud backup service is different, the recovery process is usually the same:

Go to the website of your cloud backup service.
Log in with your email address and password.
Select the online copy of your Excel file.
Download it to your Mac or edit it online if the option to do so is available.

Recover Your Excel Files from a Third-Party Cloud Backup Service

Method 8

Recover a Lost Excel File Manually from a Local Backup

Even today, with so many advanced backup options readily available, there’s still room for manual local backups.

If you’ve recently backed up the lost Excel file to a USB flash drive, an external hard drive, or even a dedicated backup folder on your system drive, then restoring it is as easy as copying & pasting it using Finder.

Recover a Lost Excel File Manually from a Local Backup

Tips to Prevent Losing Excel Files on Mac

Here are some tips and methods to use that will help prevent the accidental loss of important Excel files.

Configure AutoRecover

Make sure that you have the AutoRecover feature turned on and configured for your Mac. This built-in facility is part of Microsoft Office and can be extremely helpful if the app crashes while you are working on a file.

Perform manual saves

It’s always a good idea to save your data regularly as you update a file. After entering some new data into an Excel spreadsheet, take a second to save it rather than waiting for the next time an AutoRecover save occurs.

Backup your data

Whether you are running Excel 2010, 2016, or Excel Office 365, it is always a good idea to back up your data. On a Mac, you can use Time Machine or backup to the cloud with a third-party solution. It’s your best form of data protection.

Run Antivirus software

An infection with malware or a virus can often lead to data loss. To minimize this risk, make sure you are running an updated and reliable antivirus tool on your Mac and follow its guidance if potentially dangerous software is discovered.

Use Guaranteed Recovery

This free tool is included with the trial version of Disk Drill. It works as a supplemental Trash Bin and saves a copy of all designated files that are deleted from your Mac. You can configure the tool to protect your Excel files and other valuable data.

Use the Microsoft Cloud

Logging into your Microsoft account enables you to store your Excel files in the cloud with OneDrive. When you save the file, direct it to your OneDrive storage to protect it from local disk issues.

Frequently Asked Questions

Updated on Jan 28, 2022 by Disk Drill Team

How do I recover an Excel file that was not saved?

The built-in AutoRecover feature can help you get back an Excel file that was not saved. Go to the folder where Excel stores AutoRecovery data and open the desired file.

Where are AutoRecover files saved Excel?

Excel saves AutoRecover Files to this location:
/Users/<username>/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Excel/Data/Library/Application Support/Microsoft.

How can I recover unsaved files from Mac without software?

Here’s how to recover an unsaved Excel file on Mac without software, using a Time Machine backup.

Connect the storage media that contains the Time Machine backup to your computer.
Open a Finder window in the folder that contained the lost or deleted Excel files.
Open Time Machine by clicking the clock icon on the Menu bar.
Locate the items you want to restore using onscreen navigation.
Select an item and preview it by pressing the Space Bar if you wish.
Click Restore to recover the selected items.

Can you recover deleted Excel sheets on Mac?

Use the following procedure to recover a deleted Excel sheet on a Mac.

Select File and Save As to save the current Excel spreadsheet to a new filename.
Reopen the original Excel file.
Copy the worksheet that was deleted to the newly renamed document.

Can I recover an Excel file I didn't save on Mac?

Yes, the Auto Recover feature in Excel can recover files that have been closed unexpectedly because the feature automatically saves copies of all open files at a defined interval. You can change this interval, as well as the Auto Recover location, from settings.

Where are unsaved Excel files stored Mac?

Excel automatically stores unsaved files in the default Auto Recover file location: /Users/<username>/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Excel/Data/Library/Application Support/Microsoft
You can change this location from settings.