{"id":11049,"date":"2017-09-18T07:01:38","date_gmt":"2017-09-18T07:01:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/?p=11049"},"modified":"2025-07-23T06:33:13","modified_gmt":"2025-07-23T06:33:13","slug":"recover-permanently-erased-excel-files","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/recover-permanently-erased-excel-files\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Recover Deleted Excel Files on Windows?"},"content":{"rendered":"

There are times when your Microsoft Excel files get deleted either accidentally or unknowingly. Losing critical Excel files you have spent hours on is a painful experience. Fortunately, you may use a few methods for Excel document recovery. However, before you learn how to recover Excel file, let us understand what happens when an Excel document gets deleted.<\/p>

What happens when you delete an Excel document?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>

When an Excel file gets deleted accidentally, it generally goes to the Recycle Bin. However, if they don’t show up in the Recycle Bin, they might be lost permanently. <\/p>

So, where do the permanently deleted Excel spreadsheets go?<\/strong><\/p>

Permanently lost files stay in the folder or directory from where they got deleted, but become inaccessible to the user. The space from where the files got deleted is marked as free space by Windows, which means the Excel data still exists and can be recovered. <\/p>

However, you can add new data to that free space. <\/p>

 If you keep adding data to it, the new data will overwrite the space, and you will not be able to perform Excel file recovery, even with data recovery tools. <\/p>

Therefore, you must immediately stop using the location or drive from where you have lost your Excel files.<\/p>

\"5<\/figure>

How to Recover Unsaved Excel File in Windows 10 for Free?<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>

In this blog, you will learn how to recover unsaved Excel files using different methods based on how you lost the files, where they exist, and the chances of deleted Excel document recovery.<\/p>

1. Recover Excel Files from Recycle Bin<\/h3>

Recycle Bin is the first place where you should look for the files when they get deleted. Recycle Bin in Windows acts as a container that holds all the recyclable items before getting lost permanently, i.e., after 30 days from the storage date. <\/p>

If you have used the Del <\/strong>key to delete the files, you can recover deleted Excel documents from the Microsoft Windows Recycle Bin.<\/p>

    \n
  1. Open Recycle Bin<\/strong> and locate the Excel <\/strong>app files you want to retrieve (See Image 1)<\/strong>. <\/li>\n<\/ol>
    \"Open Recycle
    Image 1: Select files you want to restore<\/figcaption><\/figure>

    2. Select the files, right-click on them, and click Restore to recover deleted files in Excel. (See Image 2)<\/strong><\/p>

    \"Select
    Image 2: Restore Files from Recycle Bin<\/figcaption><\/figure>

    3. The deleted Excel files get saved to the folder from where they got deleted.
    4. You may also drag and drop the recovered Excel files to the desired location.<\/p>

    Important Note:<\/u><\/strong>
    Using the Shift + Del key to remove the files or emptying the Recycle bin will lead to permanent data loss. To recover permanently deleted Excel files, you will need a backup of the lost Excel files or reliable free data recovery software<\/a>. You must learn how to automatically backup an Excel file so that you can recover it when and if required.<\/figure>

    2. <\/strong>Restore deleted Excel files from backup<\/h3>

    If you have a Microsoft Excel backup file, you can use it to retrieve the lost data. Try out the following methods to recover unsaved Excel file:<\/p>

    [Note<\/strong>: Always use a different Windows partition or external storage media drives, such as HDD, SSD, etc., to save Excel recovered files from an existing backup file and prevent data overwriting.]<\/p>