How to Restore Previous Version of Excel File

Quick navigation for solutions to recover previous version of Excel whether the Excel file is saved or not:

Q: To recover a previous version of an Excel spreadsheet after saving it, you can follow these steps: Check if the file has been saved with AutoRecover enabled. If so, Excel will automatically save a copy of the file at regular intervals.

If you've accidentally overwritten an Excel file and lost important data, you may be able to recover a previous version using Excel's built-in recovery feature. Check if the file has been autosaved, which can be accessed by going to "File" > "Info" > "Manage Versions" in Excel. If not, you can try using a third-party data recovery software to scan your computer for deleted files, including Excel files. It's also a good idea to check your system's Recycle Bin or Trash for the overwritten file, as it may still be recoverable from there. If you have a backup of your file, you can restore it from there. If none of these methods work, you may want to consider seeking the help of a data recovery professional. However, it's worth noting that the success of data recovery depends on various factors, including the type of file system, the amount of data overwritten, and the time elapsed since the overwrite occurred.

Recovering an Excel file that was saved over is a long-standing issue. If the Excel file is still open, you can use Ctrl + Z or the Undo option to revert it to an earlier state. If the file is closed, you can try using the "Recover Unsaved Workbooks" option, which may allow you to restore the file to its previous state. However, if you've saved over the file without making a backup, recovering it may be more challenging.

If you've edited an Excel file and want to recover a previous version, it's not always easy, especially if you've saved and closed the file. Fortunately, we can recover previous versions of Excel files in two cases: restoring an older version if you've saved the file, or recovering the previous version if you haven't saved it. If you're having trouble, we recommend trying Deep Data Recovery to recover lost saved Excel files with ease.

How to Recover Previous Version of Excel File After Saving

You can restore a previous version of an Excel file using either the Windows backup feature or Excel's Manage Workbook feature. These tools allow you to recover earlier versions of your file, providing a safety net in case of data loss or accidental changes.

1. Recover Earlier Version of Excel File from Previous Versions

Windows can automatically save old versions of your data files when you have enabled File History and system backup and restore features.

Step 1. Open File Explorer and locate the Excel/Word file.

Step 2. Right-click on the Excel file and select "Properties".

Step 3. Click the "Previous Versions" tab and select the version you would like to get back and then hit "Restore'.

2. Restore Excel File to Previous Version with Excel's Built-in Tool

Step 1. Open the file you are working on;

Step 2. Go to "File" and click "Info". Under "Manage Documents", click the file labeled "When I closed without saving".

Step 3. Click "Restore" in the bar at the top of the file to overwrite any previously saved versions.

How to Restore Previous Version of Excel File Not Saved

 If you haven't saved the file, you can try two approaches to recover an earlier version of your Excel file. First, check if Excel has automatically saved a previous version of the file.

1. Recover Unsaved Excel File from AutoRecover

If the AutoRecover option is enabled, Windows can automatically save versions of your file while you're working on it, allowing you to recover previous versions of Excel that weren't saved.

Step 1. Click "File" > "Info" > "Manage Workbook" > "Recover Unsaved Workbooks" .

Step 2. Select the file and click "Open".

In the bar at the top of the file, click "Save As" to save the file.

2. Recover Old Version of Excel File from .TMP file

Microsoft Office has a feature that automatically saves temporary files for the file being edited. To retrieve an earlier version of an Excel or Word file, you can search for the .TMP file associated with it. This can help recover an earlier version of the file.

To find the Excel/Word temp files, follow the temporary file folder location on your PC and locate the Excel/Word temp files with a .TMP extension.

• For Windows 7 users: C:\Users\UserName\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Excel\ 
• For Windows 8/10 users: C:\Users\UserName\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Office\UnsavedFiles\

Locate the temporary Excel or Word files starting with "$" or "~" and ending with ".TMP", select the correct version based on date, and copy the file to a safe location by changing the extension from ".TMP" to ".XLS" or ".XLSX" for Excel, or ".DOC" or ".DOCX" for Word.

Conclusion: If your Excel file got overwritten accidentally with data loss, you could use the four methods to recover the previous version. However, if the loss is caused by mistaken deletion, storage device formatting, OS crash, virus attack, or emptying the recycle bin, these methods won't be helpful. In such cases, you can use data recovery software to easily recover deleted Excel documents.

How to Retrieve Deleted/Lost Excel File with Data Recovery Software

If you've already deleted an Excel file or it got lost due to careless deletion, formatting, or other reasons, you can use Deep Data Recovery to restore it within three steps.

Install this program to easily recover your lost Excel/Word files. Once installed, follow the instructions to retrieve your files with minimal effort.

Step 1. Run Deep Data Recovery, select file types and click "Next" to start the recovery process.

Step 2. To recover lost files, choose the drive where the files were lost and start scanning. This software allows you to recover data from various devices, including hard drives, solid state drives, USB drives, SD cards, pen drives, and cameras.

Step 3. You can browse the full scan results and choose the file type you need by clicking on the file type filter, as Qiling data recovery software supports over 1000 file types, including photos, videos, documents, emails, audio files, and many more.

Step 4. Select the files you want to preview. Click "Recover" and set a storage location to save the recovered data. 

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