How to recover permanently deleted Excel files on Windows 10, Mac, iPhone, and Android?

When you delete Excel files from your computer and empty the Recycle Bin or Trash, they'll be gone from your PC. But the Excel content won't be damaged immediately. When you delete an Excel file, Windows or Mac marks it for deletion and removes it from the file system database. It doesn't mean that they're lost forever, and you still have a chance to recover deleted Excel files.

This tutorial provides a step-by-step guide on how to effectively recover deleted Excel files on Windows 10, Mac, iPhone, and Android devices. It also teaches you how to quickly retrieve unsaved Excel files.

Part 1: How to Recover Deleted Excel File When There's No Recycle Bin in Windows 10

Important: After deleting an Excel file, avoid using your computer and refrain from saving new data to the space where the Excel file was stored, as this can prevent overwriting the deleted file. Here's a guide on how to recover your deleted Excel file:

1. Recover Permanently Deleted Excel Files Using Data Recovery Software

When you delete an Excel file on your computer, you should first try to recover it from the Recycle Bin. Or, you can immediately restore the Excel file using Ctrl+Z. However, if you permanently deleted it or emptied the Recycle Bin without a backup, the most effective way is to use professional data recovery software to restore permanently deleted files in Windows 10.

Data Recovery Wizard is a powerful disk data recovery tool that can restore deleted files even if you have emptied the Recycle Bin or formatted your drive.

Simple steps to recover deleted Excel files using a file recovery tool: 1. First, download and install the tools file recovery software on your computer. 2. After installation, launch the software and select the location where you want to recover the file. This is typically the hard drive partition where the Excel file was before it was deleted. 3. Click the "Scan" button, and the software will begin a comprehensive search for deleted files. 4. Upon completion of the scan, the software will display all found files. Use the "File Type" filter option to locate Excel files in the search results. 5. Preview the found Excel files to confirm that they are the ones you intend to recover. Click on the file preview to ensure the content is complete and correct. 6. Select the Excel files you wish to restore and then click the "Recover" button. The software will initiate the recovery process and save the files to a location of your choice. 7. Finally, examine the recovered files to verify that the data has been successfully restored, and save them to a secure location to avoid overwriting any other lost files. Please note that recovering deleted files promptly increases the chances of successful recovery.

Step 1: Choose a location and click "Scan."

Select the Desktop or any other specific folder where you lost your Excel file, and then click on the “Scan” button.

Select the location of your Excel file

Step 2: Locate your Excel file

To quickly find your Excel files from the scan results, click on “Documents” from the left panel. Select “Excel,” and then click “Preview” to check if these Excel files are the ones you need.

Step 3: Recover Excel Files

Finally, select the desired Excel file and click on the “Recover” button. Then choose a folder to save the Excel file at another location.

2. Recover deleted Excel files from earlier versions without software

If you don't want to use third-party software, there's a way you can restore a deleted Excel file without any programs by using a previous version of the file from a backup. This will only work if you have Windows Backup enabled.

< strong > Step 1. < /strong > Right-click the folder that used to contain the file, and select “Properties.”

Step 2: Click the Previous Versions tab to see a list of all previously saved versions of the Excel file.

Step 3. Choose the correct version, and click "Restore" to retrieve your document.

Extra Tip: Recover Unsaved Excel in Windows 10/8/7

If you forget to save an Excel file and lose it, you can recover unsaved Excel files in Windows 10/8/7 with the following solutions.

Step 1: Open a new Excel file. Click on "File" > "Info" > "Manage Workbook."

**Step 2:** From the menu, select "Recover Unsaved Workbooks." In the new window that pops up, choose the unsaved Excel workbook you want to recover and click "Open" to load the workbook.

Step 3: Click the 'Save As' button in the yellow bar to recover your unsaved work.

Don't miss: The Complete Guide on How to Recover Unsaved Excel File in 2016/2013/2010/2007

Part 2: How to Easily Recover Deleted Excel Files from Mac

How to recover deleted Excel file on Mac? If you haven't emptied the Trash, you can easily restore deleted Mac files from Trash. However, if your Word, Excel or PPT gets permanently lost on Mac due to accidental deletion, disk formatting, virus attack, partition loss, etc., you can use tools Data Recovery Wizard for Mac to retrieve the files. Here come its highlights:

• Retrieve lost photos, videos, documents, and emails in 3 simple steps.
• Supports data recovery from Mac-based hard drives, Fusion Drives, SSDs, USB drives, memory cards, digital cameras, and more.
• Recover over 1000 file types, including DOC/XLS, XLSX/PPT/PPTX, JPG/JPEG, TIFF/TIF, PNG, AVI, MOV, MP4, MP3, and many more.

Step 1: Scan the Lost Document

Select the location where your important Word/Excel/PPT/Numbers/Pages document was lost, and then click “Search Lost Files”.

Select the location and scan for lost files on your Mac

Step 2: Look for the Lost Document on Your Mac

Upon launch, Data Recovery Wizard for Mac will immediately scan the disk volume you select. The scanning results will be displayed in the left pane. Choose "Documents" to quickly filter out lost DOC/PDF/PPT/XLS files.

Step 3: Recover Lost/Deleted Documents

Select the target files and preview them by double-clicking. Then, click “Recover” to get your lost documents back immediately.

See more: How to Recover Unsaved Excel Files from Auto Save on Mac

AutoSave will automatically save unsaved new Excel documents. AutoRecover can help you restore unsaved Excel files on a Mac. If you have both of these features enabled, you can recover unsaved files in Excel 2010-2016 on your Mac.

Step 1: Launch Applications > Utilities > Terminal.

Type defaults write com.apple.Finder AppleShowAllFiles true in Terminal and press “Return” to show all files.

Step 2: Click on “Finder” and press “Return” on your Mac.

Type in /Users/YourUsername/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Excel/Data/Library/Preferences/AutoRecovery, then click “Go” to open the AutoRecovery folder for Excel.

Step 3. Locate your unsaved Excel files. Then, recover them to another secure location on your Mac.

Also read: How to Recover Unsaved Word Document on Mac

Part 3: How to Recover Deleted Files on iPhone/iPad

If you accidentally delete important files on your iPhone or iPad, is there any way to get back the lost files? You can try using a tool like the iPhone Data Recovery software to retrieve deleted photos, videos, messages, and other files from your iOS device.

Step 1: Choose the Recovery Mode

Connect your iPhone to the computer and launch tools MobiSaver. On the left, choose the recovery mode – "Recover from iOS Device" and then click "Start".

Step 2: Scan your iPhone to find the lost data

Once launched, MobiSaver will scan your iPhone 13/12/11/X/XR/XS/8/7/6/5/4 automatically to find all the existing data as well as some lost data.

Step 3: Preview and recover iPhone data

You can choose to recover lost data like photos, videos, contacts, messages, memos, voicemail, or other files from your iPhone 13/12/11/X/XR/XS/8/7/6/5/4. Then hit “Recover” to save these data to another location.

Part 4: How to Recover Deleted Excel Files on Android

For those who need to recover deleted Excel files or other documents from an Android device, you can turn to a professional Android data recovery tool – MobiSaver for Android.

In order to recover data this way, you'll need to obtain root access on your phone before beginning the process.

Step 1: Connect your Android phone to the computer with USB cable. Install and run the tool MobileSaver for Android.

Step 2: Scan your Android phone to find the deleted Excel file.

Step 3: Preview and recover deleted Excel file from your Android phone.

Finish up the matter

After going through this guide, you should now know how to recover deleted Excel files in various situations and on different devices. Additionally, if you forgot to save your Excel file, the methods mentioned above can also help you retrieve unsaved Excel files. By the way, remember to back up your Excel files regularly so that you can easily restore them even in cases of system crashes or permanent deletion.

Tools Data Recovery tools work for both Windows and Mac and provide the most comprehensive way to restore files lost due to accidental deletion, hard drive formatting, emptying the recycle bin, OS crash, or virus attack. Download this software for free and easily recover and protect your data.