Have you deleted your Excel file and now you need to recover the data in it? You may check the recycle bin first. What if the deleted Excel file is not in the recycle bin? Many people tend to think that permanently deleting something means you can never recover it. This is not always true as there are some methods and tools to help you recover your deleted Excel file that is not in the recycle bin.
- Where do deleted Excel files go if not in the recycle bin?
- Can you recover the deleted Excel file not in the recycle bin?
- How do you recover deleted Excel file that is not in the recycle bin?
1. Where do deleted Excel files go if not in the recycle bin?
The recycle bin is the basic recycle folder on your computer. So if you cannot find your deleted file in it then it could be due to the following reasons:
- You permanently deleted the file.
- The deleted file is larger than the maximum size of the recycle bin.
- The recycle bin is overfilled or even corrupt.
- The deleted Excel file was on a flash drive.
Sometimes when you delete your Excel files using Windows Explorer, they do not go directly into the recycle bin. This mostly happens if you have many recycle folders in every drive on your computer. This means that each one of those drives that support recycling has a recycle bin to store your deleted items. So if the deleted file did not go directly into the main recycle bin on your computer, then it means it was saved in one of the recycle bins in your drives.
Check if they are moved to another folder accidentally by checking the Recent files in Excel. To check for the Recent files in Excel:
- Open your Excel application.
- Tap on File and then Open.
- Click on Recent.
- All your recently opened Excel files will be listed for you.
If they are not in all the Recycle Bin or other places on your computer, they are deleted permanently.
2. Can you recover the deleted Excel file not in the recycle bin?
Yes, you can either use a backup or use a tool to recover the Excel files. Data recovery tools are important because they usually scan your devices thoroughly to restore the deleted Excel files in their locations quickly. They can also retrieve permanently deleted files that still exist in the system.
These tools can easily recover the deleted Excel file not in the recycle bin because when a file is created, the system creates enough storage space for the file under the NT file system (NTFS that Windows usually use) which is used to record any saved file data on the drive. So when the file is erased, the data that was stored on the occupied sectors allocated for that particular file will not be erased like the file. However, the NTFS will notify the system that those sectors are now available to save new files. As such saving new files before recovering the deleted ones will only cause the system to overwrite the deleted Excel files hence making it even more difficult to recover them.
These software tools retrieve data only if it has not been overwritten by other files in the system. The tools have advanced features that allow them to dig deep through the system in search of inaccessible or deleted files.
3. How do you recover deleted Excel file that is not in the recycle bin?
Recycle bins normally erase all data they collected after every 30 days. As such, if the Excel file that you are looking for, is unavailable in the recycle bin you do not have to worry. Instead, you can use the methods below to help you.
3.1 Check OneDrive
OneDrive is one of the storage tools designed by Microsoft to help back up files and keep them updated across the user’s various devices. Sometimes when you create an Excel file on your computer, it gets saved on your One Drive account as well. As such, we can use One Drive to search for the deleted Excel file that is not in the recycle bin. To do this:
- Go OneDrive website.
- Sign in with your Microsoft account.
- Go to the Navigation pane and then click on Recycle Bin.
- Choose all the files that you want to Restore from the given list.
- Then tap on Restore.
3.2 Use Previous Versions
The Previous version method is a Windows 10 inbuilt feature to help you safely restore all the files that have been erased from the recycle bin using File Explorer. It does this by maintaining a file history on your computer. These previous versions are basically the copies of your files and folders that the computer saves automatically to form part of a shadow copy.
However, for you to benefit from this feature, you first need to set it up and turn it on before deleting your files. Also, it cannot be used as the main backup plan because it only works for restoring accidentally edited or deleted files on the computer. To use this feature to recover your deleted Excel files:
- Open File Explorer on your computer.
- Find the folder that contained your deleted Excel file.
- Then right-click on the folder and tap Restore Previous Versions. If you cannot see this option, that means you have not enabled this feature.
- If the previous version of your file is still available, then Windows will display it for you.
- After previewing the Previous version, click on Restore to retrieve your lost Excel file that is no longer in the recycle bin.
3.3 Use File History
Your computer has a Windows File History which backs up all the offline files in your computer. This File History feature stores your data in any external storage device such as a hard drive or even a drive on any network.
However, you can only benefit from this feature if you had previously turned it on, on your computer before deleting your files. You can turn Windows File History on, under the Backup Settings on your computer. To use your File History to find your deleted Excel files:
- On your computer, Open your Windows Search box.
- Then type in “ Restore your files with your file History”.
- Tap Open and from there look for your deleted Excel file.
- If you want to open your deleted Excel file, you have to Double Tap on that particular Excel file.
- Choose the Excel files that you want to recover and click the Recover button. Your deleted files will then be restored to their original location on your computer or device.
3.4 Use a data recovery tool
One of the most trusted and used data recovery tools for restoring deleted Excel files that are no longer in the recycle bin is the EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard. It has various advanced features to help you recover accidentally deleted Excel files across all your devices. This tool can also perform Partition recovery as well as formatted file recovery.
With the free version of the EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard, you can recover 2GB of data which is enough for some files, and preview your data before restoring it. To use the free version of this tool to recover your deleted Excel file that is not in the recycle bin:
- Download and Open the EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard on your computer.
- Choose a location where your Excel files were stored before being deleted.
- Then the program will start searching in that location.
- Preview the recovered data before restoring it.
- Click on Restore to retrieve your deleted Excel file.
Losing data can be a very frustrating experience. Fortunately, there are always solutions to problems such as accidentally deleting an important Excel file. Hopefully, the solutions above helped you to quickly solve your issue and retrieve the Excel file that was no longer available in the recycle bin of your computer.
