Recover Overwritten or Unsaved MS Excel Files Easily?

Sahil Verma

Published On - December 7, 2021

It’s not uncommon to come across Excel data loss situations. For example, one of my friends mailed me:

We rewrote some of the formulas in an Excel spreadsheet and tried to save them. But we accidentally deleted a portion of the file and then saved the file the way we’re accustomed to.

Is there really no way to get back the earlier Excel version? Excel file? Sure, there’s an alternative. There are various reasons of MS Excel files corruption and data recovery methods. We’ll present the most effective methods to retrieve the overwritten Excel files.

Recover Overwritten or Unsaved Excel Files: Top 5 Methods

There are a variety of options below to restore the Excel files in Windows 10, 8, or 7. Certain steps will differ with each version of Windows, but you’ll be able to understand the basic idea.

• Use Excel AutoSave and AutoRecover

Excel Autosave and AutoRecover are two great tools that allow users to retrieve lost Excel file data. Excel AutoSave is a feature that automatically saves an unpublished document that was just created but isn’t saved. This allows the user to retrieve important information that has been lost due to crashes or power outages.

Excel AutoRecover allows the user to retrieve the lost unsaved file due to an accidentally closed file. With this, you are able to retrieve the previously saved version displayed within the Document Recovery Pane. 

You can see it when the Excel file is launched the next time. This function is only applicable to Excel workbooks that were previously saved.

These two functions can be incredibly useful for recovering unsaved Excel workbooks and restoring corrupted Excel files. This option is automatically enabled within the Excel file.

Enabling the AutoSave (AutoRecover) Settings in Excel:

1. First, open the File tab and then select Options.
2. Click Save on the left right-hand Excel Options dialog box.
3. It is important to ensure that “Save AutoRecover information every ‘y’ minute” & “Keep the autosaved version if I close without saving” are checked.
4. Click OK.

This AutoRecover feature is automatically configured to save your workbook’s changes in every 10-minute period. You can change the duration according to your preferences. You can also alter the Excel AutoRecover file’s location and set AutoRecover exceptions.

If Excel is set to AutoSave and AutoRecover, you can easily restore an unsaved Excel file if something goes wrong.

• Recover Overwritten Excel Files Via Temporary Files

When you work with the Excel spreadsheet, Office creates a temporary version of the file to serve as backup. Be aware that the temporary files do not in any way replace the previous versions of your Excel file. But when you save Excel and then overwrite other files, you’ll be able to locate these files in your temporary file.

For Windows 8 and 10, navigate to the temporary file by following this route:
C:\Users\UserName\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Office\UnsavedFiles\

For Windows 7, follow this path to access those temporary folders:
C:\Users\Username\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\

Alternatively, you can use the Office option to recover lost documents from files that are temporary.

1. Begin by opening Excel and clicking “File.” Select “Manage Workbook” after choosing the “Info” tab located on the left. Choose “Recover Unsaved Workbooks.”



2. Next, access the file you want & hit on Open. 
3. Then, you can recover the file that was overwritten by selecting “Save As” and completing the procedure.

• Recover Unsaved Excel Files

If you’re working on a new Excel file and Excel shuts down abruptly, it becomes apparent that there’s no way to save the Excel file. In this instance, learn how to retrieve the unsaved Excel file.

1. Go to the option File. Next, tap on Open > Recent Workbooks.



2. Then scroll down until you click the Recover Unsaved Workbooks button.
3. If the Open dialog box appears, select the file you want to open & then tap on Open.
4. Your unsaved Excel file will be recovered now.

• Recover Excel Replaced Files Via Windows Backup

If alterations are made to the Excel spreadsheet by your computer, then there’s a good chance you’ll find earlier versions of the spreadsheet from backups made to Windows backup.

To restore the corrupted Excel file:

1. Create a new Excel file that is identical to the original file name. You can also find the currently overwritten Excel file.
2. Right-click the Excel file and select Properties.



3. Go to Previous Versions. Select the version that you would like to restore and click Restore.

• Try MS Excel Repair Tool

Use Recoveryfix for Excel Repair , a professional Excel Repair tool to fix the most common Excel errors. This is the most effective tool to repair all types of problems, corruption & issues in Excel worksheets. It allows you to quickly repair all corrupt Excel documents, including worksheet properties, charts cells, cell comments, and more.

How to Use Recoveryfix for Excel Repair

1. Firstly, download and install Recoveryfix for Excel Repair.
2. After a successful installation, open the tool. Moving further, browse for the Excel files you want to repair.



3. Next, click on the file to be repaired and tap on the button “Repair” to start the process. 



4. Preview your selected Excel file. Lastly, you need to save the file by tapping on the Save option. 

The Bottom Line!!

If your Excel file has been accidentally deleted, these solutions will aid you in getting your file back. If none of the methods are effective, don’t be afraid to try Recoveryfix For Excel Repair. This tool will help you retrieve the deleted Excel file, regardless of the way you deleted it. It’s 100% secure and free to test. Further,  this tool offers services including 100% recovery without data loss, troubleshoots all Excel errors, and offers three-step recovery.