What to do right now
- Check the Recycle Bin, the OneDrive or SharePoint bin and email attachments first.
- If it is not there, stop saving to that drive and scan it with a recovery tool.
- If the recovered file will not open, repair it or at least save the cell values.
Step by step
Check the bin and the cloud
Check the Windows Recycle Bin. If the file lived in OneDrive or SharePoint, look in the web bin and the version history. If you ever emailed it, check the attachments too.
Check Previous Versions
Right-click the folder that held the file, open Properties and look at the Previous Versions tab. With File History or restore points, you can copy the file out of an earlier state of the folder.
Stop saving to the drive
If none of that worked, save nothing new to that drive. If it is drive C:, run the FileFix Ultimate portable ZIP from a USB stick.
Scan by name and type
Scan the drive with deleted file recovery and filter for XLSX and XLS, or search for part of the file name. Surviving file records bring back the original name and folder.
Save to another disk and open
Open the saved file in Excel. If it will not open, run damaged file repair; if that also fails, salvage mode exports the cell values to a new xlsx and CSV files.
Why Excel files recover well, and the exception
XLSX is a compressed package, so signature search can find it too, and when the file name is lost a name is suggested from the document's own properties. Older XLS files use the OLE2 format, which is told apart from Word and PowerPoint files.
The exception is SSDs. With TRIM on, blocks are cleared soon after deletion, so a file name may appear while the content is zeros. The cloud and Previous Versions are then the realistic options.
If you overwrote it instead
If the file still exists but you saved wrong changes over it, you need to restore an earlier version rather than recover a deleted file. See the guide on restoring an overwritten Excel file.
When recovery will not work
- Time has passed since deletion on an SSD with TRIM.
- Many files were saved to the same drive after the deletion and overwrote it.
- Salvage mode may lose formulas, formatting, macros and pictures.
How FileFix Ultimate helps
- Restores deleted Excel files with their names and folders from NTFS, FAT32 and exFAT records.
- Finds XLSX and XLS by signature and checks that they open.
- Rebuilds damaged XLSX packages, or salvages cell values into a values-only xlsx and CSV.
- Can use shadow copies (Previous Versions) as a recovery source.
FileFix Ultimate is free, works offline and never writes to the drive you are recovering from. Check the signature before you run it.
Frequently asked questions
Can an Excel file be recovered after emptying the Recycle Bin?
On a hard drive or USB stick, often yes, until it is overwritten. Start as soon as you can.
The recovered Excel file says it is corrupt.
Part of it may be overwritten or fragmented. Try damaged file repair, and if that fails, salvage the cell values.
Can I recover it from Excel's temporary files?
If it was closed without saving, an AutoRecover file may exist. See the guide on recovering unsaved Excel files.
What about a file deleted from a shared folder or NAS?
Files deleted from network folders do not go to your Recycle Bin. Check the NAS recycle bin or ask the administrator about backups first.