Lost spreadsheet on excel

Search OneDrive on the web first, because an active Excel AutoSave toggle normally means the workbook was stored in OneDrive or SharePoint Online rather than only on the PC.^1^

1. Search OneDrive and its Recycle Bin

1. Sign in to OneDrive using the same Microsoft account shown in Excel.
2. Search for:
   • Any part of the workbook name.
   • xlsx, xlsm, or xls.
3. Sort results by Modified and look for files changed on the fourth or fifth day.
4. Select Recycle bin in the left navigation.
5. If the workbook appears, select it and choose Restore. For personal OneDrive, deleted items are normally recoverable for 30 days; work or school retention is normally 93 days unless an administrator changed it.^2^
6. Also check the Windows Recycle Bin. A locally synchronized OneDrive file may be there, although cloud-only files appear only in OneDrive’s web Recycle Bin.

2. If you find the workbook but it is empty or incomplete

Right-click the workbook in OneDrive and select Version history. Open a version dated before it disappeared or lost content, then select Restore. Version History applies to files stored in OneDrive or SharePoint; a work or school administrator may have disabled versioning.^3^

You can also check from Excel:

1. Open the workbook.
2. Select its filename at the top of the Excel window.
3. Select Version History.
4. Open the required version and select Restore.^1^

3. Check Excel’s recovery copies

If the workbook is absent from OneDrive:

1. Open Excel.
2. Select File > Info > Manage Workbook > Recover Unsaved Workbooks.
3. Open each likely recovery file and immediately use Save As to save it under a new name.

Also check whether Excel opens a Document Recovery pane. If several copies appear, compare their timestamps, open the newest likely copy, and choose Save As. Do not select Delete or permanently dismiss the recovery list until the contents have been reviewed.^4^

Excel periodically removes automatically recovered workbooks that are not opened, so check this promptly.^5^

4. Search the Windows PC

If recovery shows nothing:

1. Open File Explorer and select This PC.
2. Search separately for:
   • *.xlsx
   • *.xlsm
   • *.xlsb
   • *.xls
3. Sort the results by Date modified.
4. Check Documents, Desktop, Downloads, and the local OneDrive folder.
5. In Excel, check File > Open > Recent. If the workbook is listed, open it or use its location to identify the folder.
6. Open File > Options > Save and note the AutoRecover file location, then inspect that folder for files dated during the four days you worked.

If none of these locations contains the workbook, the remaining recovery possibility depends on whether it was stored in OneDrive, SharePoint, or only locally. For a work or school account, ask the Microsoft 365 administrator to check SharePoint/OneDrive retention and whether versioning is enabled. For a personal account, Microsoft Support can help check account and synchronization issues, but a file permanently removed from the OneDrive Recycle Bin cannot be recovered through OneDrive.^2^

References

1. [Windows](https://support.microsoft.com/office/collab-files/what-is-autosave)
2. Restore files deleted from your OneDrive | Microsoft Support
3. Restore a previous version of a file stored in OneDrive | Microsoft Support
4. Recover your Microsoft 365 files | Microsoft Support
5. Privacy supplement for Excel