Microsoft Excel is amongst one of the most popular document formsused in the offices to store their important data. A slight mistake while managing the excel files can either cost you a project, or sometimes even your job. There are times when you accidentally or unknowingly delete your excel files and end up losing your crucial data. We understand, losing a file on which you spent hours working is a hard pill to swallow. Fortunately, there are various methods following which you can get your hands on the deleted excel files once again. Before you straightaway jump to recover deleted excel file, learn what happens to your deleted files.
What Happens After You Delete An Excel File?
Whenever you delete an excel file mistakenly, it generally goes to the Recycle bin. What if, it doesn’t show up in the Recycle Bin? It signifies that you file might have been lost permanently. You might be wondering where do the permanently deleted files go?
Well, to make you aware, the permanently lost or deleted files remain in the same location from where they have been deleted but become inaccessible. What Windows does is, makes the space available for users to save or add more data. However, when youkeep adding data to it, new data overwrites the space, and this will make you unable to retrieve files, even with a data recovery software. Therefore, whenever you realize that a crucial file has been deleted permanently, stop using the location or drive from where you have lost your files.
What Are The Methods To Recover Deleted Excel Files In Windows For Free?
You may proceed with the resolution methods listed below, to recover permanently deleted excel files:
Method 1: Restore from Recycle Bin
Whenever any of your file gets deleted, Recycle Bin is the first place where you should look for it. It acts a container that holds all your recyclables items before you lost them permanently, i.e., after 30 days from the storage date. You may follow the below-given steps, if you have deleted your file using the Del key:
- Open Recycle Bin and search the files that you want to retrieve.
- When found, right-click on them and select the Restore option.
- It will restore the file to the original place from where it got deleted.
- Alternatively, you may also drag and drop the selected files to the desired location.
Note:If in case, you deleted the file using Shift + Del command or emptied the Recycle bin, you’ll lose your filespermanently. Well, you can recover your data even in such a situation. All you would require is either a backup or reliable data recovery software.
Method 2: Restore From Backup
You can recover your corrupted files without much trouble, if you have a backup of it. For doing so, you can try out the below-listed methods:
Note:We would recommend you to use different Windows partition or external storage media drives, such as HDD, SSD, etc., for saving the recovered files from backup.
A. Use Windows Backup & Restore (Windows 7)
Windows 7 has a built-in backup utility that allows you to create a backup of the system files and folders daily, weekly, or monthly. The file recovery becomes much easier, if you have taken a backup of your system data. To recover your files from the backup, follow the below-given steps:
- Firstly, connect an external storage media (HDD, SSD, USB, etc.) to your PC.
- Then, go to Control Panel and from there, select System and Security option.
- Go to Backup and Restore and from there, click on Restore my files option.
- Further, select your excel files that you want to recover.
- Now, click on browse for files followed by Next.
- Lastly, select the location where you want to save the recovered files.
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B.Restore with File History
Another backup utility offered by Microsoft for Windows users is the File History. It enables you backup the files stored in Documents, Pictures, Music, Videos, and Desktop folders and the OneDrive files that you have offline on your system. If your crucial excel files are saved in these folders and you have kept File History on, then, recover your files following the below-stated steps:
- Click on the Windows icon, and go to Control Panel.
- From there, select the File History option followed by Restore Personal Files.
- It will display you the files as per the backup time.
- Moving ahead, choose the files and click on Restore.
- At last, select the location where you want to save the retrieved files.
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C. Restore Files from Previous Versions
You may also restore theaccidentally deleted or modified excel files with the help of the Previous Version utility. It is also referred to as the copies of the files and folders saved by Windows automatically.
Note:It’s important for you to know that, this utility will save your files but will delete the applications and drivers that were installed after you upgraded theapplication to the latest version.
Method 3: Use Google Drive Backup
Google Drive backup can also come handy to help you recover deleted excel files. To do so, follow the given steps:
- Log into your Google Account and all your files will be displayed on the screen.
- Further, select the files that you want to retrieve.
- Right-click and select the Download option.
- Lastly, save the recovered files at a different location.
Method 4: Recover Deleted Excel Files with Data Recovery Software
Well, it might be possible that you don’t have a backup and have permanently lost the excel files. In that case, you can try on a robust data recovery software, such as Stellar Data Recovery. It helps you recover all kinds of data, including files, folders, documents, emails, photos, videos, audio files, and more. It supports recovery from Windows PCs, laptops, HDDs, SSDs, USB, SD, etc. You can recover data in case of deletion, formatting, corruption, or malware infection. To recover permanently deleted excel files, follow the below-given steps:
- At first, download, install and run the Stellar Data Recovery software on your system.
- It will display the Select What to Recover screen.
- There, you can either select Everything or the type of data you want to recover, such as Office documents or Folders.
- Once selected, click on Next.
- Further, select the location or the drive from where you lost the data on the Recover from screen.
- Then, click on Scan and let the scanning process complete. It will display the deleted files on your screen.
- Moving ahead, select the files that you want to retrieve and click on Recover.
- To choose the location where you want to store the extracted file, click on Browse.
- Lastly, click Start Saving to save the recovered excel files.
Here’s How You CanAvoid File Deletion In Future
By following the above-methods, you would surely be able to recover the deleted files no matter what circumstance you come across. But, to avoid such situations, there are certain key aspects that you must take into consideration to safeguard the data. Below we have mentioned some tips that may help you avoid file deletion:
- To avoid data overwriting,stop using the device or drive from which you lost data in the first place.
- Never perform hit-and-trial method to clean junks or unnecessary files from your system.
- Always be attentive when using the Clean Disk utility or emptying the Recycle Bin folder.
- To prevent virus attack,keep the Antivirus program updated on your system.
- When your device is short on batter, avoid transferring data.
- You’re always suggested to keep reliable data recovery software handy.
Wrapping Up
By now, you would have understood that it’s a bit difficult task to recover permanently deleted excel files. But the above-mentioned solutionswould also made you understand that isn’t impossible to recover the deleted Excel files. Initially, you can try recovering your data from the Recycle Bin. However, if due to any reason you have lost your Excel files permanently and run out of backup, then, you may try out the StellarRepair For Excel to retrieve the files for free! It can help you extract all types of lost data due to deletion, formatting, corruption, or malware attack.
