Where Excel stores files you thought were gone

Excel keeps multiple copies of your work in places you can check before you assume the file is lost. The first place to look depends on what happened: if you closed the file without saving, if you deleted it by accident, or if the program crashed. Each situation has a different recovery path, and most of them take just a few minutes.

Windows and Mac both maintain hidden backup copies and trash folders. Excel itself also stores temporary versions of files you were working on. Start with the method that matches what happened to you, because the fastest route depends on whether the file still exists somewhere on your computer or whether you need to rebuild it from a partial save.

Key Takeaways

  • If you closed Excel without saving, check the AutoRecover folder on your computer — Excel saves partial versions every 10 minutes by default.
  • If you deleted the file, check your Recycle Bin (Windows) or Trash (Mac) first, because deleted files sit there until you empty it.
  • If Excel crashed, look for a recovery file with a .tmp extension in your temp folder or check the AutoRecover list when you restart Excel.
  • If the file is gone from all those places, you can still recover it from a backup if you set one up before the loss happened.

Recovering a file you closed without saving

Excel saves a backup copy of your work every 10 minutes by default, even if you never pressed Save. This file sits in a hidden folder on your computer. When you restart Excel or open a new file, Excel checks for these backups and offers to recover them.

If Excel did not show you a recovery prompt when you opened it, you can find the backup folder manually. On Windows, open File Explorer and paste this path into the address bar: %appdata%\Microsoft\Excel. Look for a folder called XLSTART or check inside the main Excel folder for any files with today's date. On Mac, open Finder, press Command+Shift+G, and paste ~/Library/process Support/Microsoft/Office/Office Cache.

The backup files are often named with a .tmp extension or start with a tilde (~). Double-click any file from today and Excel will open it. If it contains your work, save it when ready with a new name so you do not lose it again.

Recovering a file you deleted by accident

Deleted files do not disappear when ready — they move to your Recycle Bin (Windows) or Trash (Mac) and stay there until you empty it. If you have not emptied the trash since you deleted the file, you can restore it in seconds.

On Windows, open the Recycle Bin from your desktop or Start menu. Look for the Excel file by name or by the date you deleted it. Right-click the file and choose Restore. The file returns to the folder it came from. On Mac, click the Trash icon in your dock, find the file, right-click it, and choose Put Back.

If you have already emptied the trash, the file is still on your hard drive but harder to find. Move to the section on recovering permanently deleted files.

Recovering a file after Excel crashes

When Excel crashes, it creates a temporary recovery file and saves it to a specific folder. When you restart Excel, it usually shows you a recovery pane on the left side of the screen with a list of files it found. Click the file name to open it.

If the recovery pane does not appear, you can open the recovery folder manually. On Windows, go to File > Open > Recent and look for a section called Recover Unsaved Workbooks at the bottom. Click that link and Excel shows you all the temporary files it saved. On Mac, click File > Open Recent and scroll to the bottom for Recover Unsaved Workbooks.

Open the file you want and save it with a permanent name right away. Do not close Excel until you have saved it, because these temporary files delete themselves when you close the program.

Recovering a permanently deleted file from backup

If the file is not in your trash and not in any of the recovery folders, your only option is a backup you created before the loss. If you set up automatic backups through your cloud storage (OneDrive, Google Drive, iCloud) or through Windows File History or Mac Time Machine, you can restore from there.

For OneDrive, open OneDrive.com in your browser, find the folder where the file was, and look for a Version history or Restore option. Right-click the folder and choose Restore previous versions. Select the date before you lost the file and click Restore. For Google Drive, right-click the file, choose Version history, and click the version you want to restore.

On Windows, open File History by typing it into the search box. Navigate to the folder where your Excel file was stored, and File History shows you versions from different dates. Click the date before the loss and click Restore. On Mac, click the Time Machine icon in your menu bar, navigate to the date before the loss, and click Restore.

Recovering a file with a corrupted or unreadable format

Sometimes a file opens but shows error messages, displays garbled text, or will not let you edit it. This usually means the file itself is damaged, not lost. Excel has a built-in repair tool that can often fix these files.

Open Excel and go to File > Open. Navigate to the damaged file but do not double-click it. Instead, click the file once to select it, then click the dropdown arrow next to the Open button and choose Open and Repair. Excel scans the file and attempts to fix it. If it succeeds, save the repaired file with a new name when ready.

If the repair tool does not work, try opening the file in a different program. Google Sheets can often open damaged Excel files that Excel itself cannot read. Upload the file to Google Drive, right-click it, and choose Open with > Google Sheets. If Google Sheets opens it successfully, read it back to your computer as an Excel file.

Preventing future loss by setting up AutoRecover

Excel's AutoRecover feature is on by default, but you can check your settings to make sure it is enabled and adjust how often it saves. Go to File > Options (Windows) or Excel > Preferences (Mac). Look for Save in the left menu.

Make sure the box next to Save AutoRecover information every is checked. The default is 10 minutes, but you can change it to a shorter interval if you work on important files. Also check the box for Keep the last AutoRecovered version if I close without saving. This ensures Excel keeps a backup even if you accidentally close the file without saving.

The most reliable protection is still a backup outside of Excel — either through cloud storage like OneDrive or through your computer's built-in backup tool. That way, if your hard drive fails or you lose the file entirely, you have a copy stored somewhere else.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does Excel keep AutoRecover files?

Excel keeps AutoRecover files for the current session only. Once you close Excel completely, those temporary files delete themselves. If you restart Excel, it checks for recovery files and offers to restore them, but only if the program crashed or you force-quit it. If you close Excel normally, the AutoRecover files are gone.

Can I recover a file if I saved over it with different data?

If you saved a new version on top of the old one, the original data is overwritten and cannot be recovered from the file itself. However, if you have a backup from before you saved over it — through OneDrive version history, Time Machine, or File History — you can restore that older version. Check your backup system first before assuming the data is gone.

What if the file name changed or I do not remember where I saved it?

Use your computer's search function to find Excel files by date. On Windows, open File Explorer and type *.xlsx in the search box to find all Excel files, then sort by date modified. On Mac, open Finder, click the search icon, and type kind:spreadsheet to find all spreadsheet files. Look for files from the date you were working on the lost file.

Does emptying the Recycle Bin permanently delete files?

Emptying the Recycle Bin removes the file from the trash folder, but the data still exists on your hard drive until Windows overwrites that space with new data. If you deleted the file recently and have not saved much new data since, a file recovery tool may be able to retrieve it. Search for "file recovery software" and follow the tool's instructions, though success is not may provide.

Can I recover a file from a computer that will not turn on?

If the computer will not start, you cannot access the files from within Windows or Mac. You would need to remove the hard drive and connect it to another computer using an external drive adapter, or take the computer to a repair shop. This is beyond what you can do yourself, but it is possible if the hard drive itself is not damaged.