Computer experts - Need to recover an Excel file

Antonio65

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I need help to retrieve a Microsoft Excel file that I had edited by mistake and then saved.
I badly need to recover the previous content of that file, I checked online but I only found confusing instructions and none of them seems to work.
Please, tell me what to do!

O.S. Windows 10, with Office 365.

Thanks!!!
 
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Antonio65

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Hi, when you click on file do you see info, then version history?
Yes, but I don't really know what I have to do.
I mean, I see "info" and then "History", but what do I have to do from there?
The app asks me to access to a cloud service (One Note), and the list is empty.
 

Furballsmom

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So, it sounds like you don't have "version history", just "history". When you click on history, you don't then see anything like versions, or restore .. ..

This is another approach although I'm assuming instead of explorer, just use the browser that you've been using;
  1. Open Windows Explorer and open the folder that contained the overwritten file.
  2. From anywhere within the folder, right-click and select Properties.
  3. Select the Previous Versions tab.
  4. Look at the list of versions, each with a date, and look for the version you want.
 
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Antonio65

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So, it sounds like you don't have "version history", just "history". When you click on history, you don't then see anything like versions, or restore .. ..

This is another approach although I'm assuming instead of explorer, just use the browser that you've been using;
  1. Open Windows Explorer and open the folder that contained the overwritten file.
  2. From anywhere within the folder, right-click and select Properties.
  3. Select the Previous Versions tab.
  4. Look at the list of versions, each with a date, and look for the version you want.
Sorry, I shortened "version history" to just "history", sorry.
I did as you suggested, but when I open the Properties, Previous Versions tab, the window that opens is empty ☹
It says "no previous version available"
 

Margret

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I don't use Microsoft Office and I don't have Windows 10. What I do have is a computer club, with a large amount of computer expertise, so I've taken the liberty of leaving a message in the group's mailing list asking for assistance. I'll let you know what they say.

Margret
 
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Antonio65

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I don't use Microsoft Office and I don't have Windows 10. What I do have is a computer club, with a large amount of computer expertise, so I've taken the liberty of leaving a message in the group's mailing list asking for assistance. I'll let you know what they say.

Margret
Thanks so much! ❤
 

Margret

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It's not looking good. Basically, you would have had to set Excel up in advance to save previous versions of your files, and it doesn't appear that you've done so. Sometimes deleted files can be recovered from a hard drive, but it isn't easy and it may require specialized software. If you've recently bought a SanDisk SD card (or micro SD card) you may have received a coupon for their program named RescuePRO Deluxe; if so, I would advise you to download and install the program and then try to use it to recover the deleted file. It seems to be a pretty good program. The coupon includes the code that you need to enter to validate your copy as legitimate; be sure to copy that code exactly - try writing it in Notepad and double checking against the coupon; then you can copy and paste it when you register the program.

Margret
 

Kieka

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Yeah... agree with above. Once you save over its basically gone unless you set it up in advance but even that is only good for so many previous versions.

For future, you could get in the habit of saving a new copy everyday so you can reference historical. Setting up a nightly backup to create an archieve. At my work we used to email spreadsheets to a master backup email address at the end of the day so that we'd have a repository of everything up to a specific date if anyone's computer crashed (we switched to cloud database from excel spreadsheets two years ago).
 

Margret

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I've just been checking online. There's a free trial version of RescuePRO Deluxe, so you can give it a try. RescuePro Deluxe Do be sure to run the downloaded file through your virus checker before you actually install it; sometimes websites like cnet (which this is) accidentally post links to infected files. If it doesn't pass the virus check, check online for other sources.

Margret
 
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Antonio65

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Basically, the incident happened on the office (workplace) PC, which has Win 10 and Office365.
I do know that PC's at workplaces shouldn't be used for personal uses or for things that do not have anything to do with work, but...

The excel file I have accidentally overwritten is sort of a monthly list of my colony cats that I see daily. It's sort of a rudimental calendar where I mark down what cats I have seen every day. This helps me to keep trace of who and when I see, so that I can know if some cat has been missing for a long time.
I have lots of different files, one for each month. When I started February 2023, I started from the January one, I should have hit "save as..." in order to name it February, but I hit "save", so I overwrote the old file.
Now I have lost all the last month's sightings.
It doesn't sound a terrible damage to most people, but it is very important to me.

Now, the PC at work, I'm not the administrator of it, so I can't install most of not authorized software, nor can I visit certain websites, and the one of RescuePro is one of them. I could download it from a home PC and then try to install it from a pen drive.

I will let you know soon.
Thanks so much!!!
 

susanm9006

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Yes, reinstalling that file by copy/pasting from a USB drive stick would work. Instead of separate files for each month you might consider using one file but separate tabs for each month. Just copy and paste last months into a new tab for this month. That way you can easily flip between months if you are reviewing your siteings and less risk of overwriting.
 
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Margot Lane

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I’m always afraid of losing files so print out copies of important stuff as I go and file them away. Lower tech and old school, but, comforting.
 
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Antonio65

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An update to my issue and how it ended up.

I remembered I had a friend of mine who is a real expert in everything is computer, both PC and Mac, both hardware and software, both O.S. and every kind of application on earth.
I submitted the issue to him. His answer was that if the file is local on the machine and is being overwritten, and the machine hasn't an auto backup to a cloud or a history index on the PC itself, the overwritten file is lost forever and no external App, like the RescuePro DeLuxe or else, will be ever able to retrieve it. I sent him all the screenshots of the PC with the file I had overwritten, the settings in my system and whatever else he asked me for, and he said that the PC I am using at my workplace hasn't the file history enabled in MS Office, and this is something that I can't work on because I'm not the administrator or the computer.
He said that the file I had overwritten is lost and can't be retrieved, I have to deal with this idea.

Thanks so much!
 
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