Recovery request for OneDrive Excel file (edits lost today)

Follow these steps in order, based on where the file is stored and how it was opened.

1. Check Excel’s Document Recovery / Unsaved files

• Open Excel on Mac.
• If Excel previously crashed or closed unexpectedly, the Document Recovery pane may appear automatically when Excel starts and list recovered versions of the workbook.
• Also check for unsaved versions via File > Info and any Manage Workbook / Recover Unsaved Workbooks option if available. Recovered files may contain the edits from today.

2. Confirm the correct OneDrive account and file Because the file is on a colleague’s personal OneDrive and was opened via a SharePoint/Teams link, confirm that:

• The colleague is signed in to the same Microsoft account where the file is stored.
• The file being checked in OneDrive/Teams is the same file that was edited (not a copy).

3. Use OneDrive version history for that file Ask the file owner (colleague) to:
4. Sign in to the Microsoft 365 portal and open their OneDrive where the file is stored.
5. Browse to the folder containing the Excel file.
6. Select the ellipses (...) next to the file and choose Version History.
7. In Version History, look for versions saved around the time of today’s work.
8. For a candidate version, select the drop-down arrow next to the date/time, choose Restore, then OK.
   • If the restored version does not contain the edits, repeat with another earlier version.

This uses OneDrive’s file versioning to roll the single Excel file back to a point that may include today’s edits without affecting other files.

4. Check OneDrive recycle bin (in case of overwrite/delete) If the file was overwritten or replaced:
5. In the colleague’s OneDrive on the web, open Recycle bin.
6. Look for older copies or related files.
7. Select any relevant item and choose Restore.

If the file was in a SharePoint/Teams library instead of personal OneDrive, use the site’s Recycle Bin and restore from there.

5. If many files on that OneDrive were affected If this Excel file is one of many that lost recent changes (for example, due to a sync or overwrite issue), the owner can:
6. Open the Restore your OneDrive options (for Microsoft 365 subscribers).
7. Choose a restore point from earlier today (before the loss was noticed) and restore.
   • This will undo actions on all files and folders in that OneDrive within the selected window.
   • Files or folders created after the restore point will be moved to the OneDrive Recycle Bin and can be restored from there if needed.

Use this only if multiple items are affected, because it rolls back the entire OneDrive, not just one file.

6. If still not resolved If none of the above recovers the edits:

• Check whether the file was synced locally on any device (via OneDrive sync client) and whether that device has a more recent copy.
• If the file is in SharePoint/Teams and not recoverable via Recycle Bin or Files Restore, a SharePoint/OneDrive administrator can contact Microsoft 365 support. They will need:
  • Full URL of the affected site collection or library.
  • Names of affected items (with extensions).
  • Approximate date/time when the file was last in a healthy state.

SharePoint Online keeps backups for 14 additional days beyond deletion, but restores at that level are only for entire site collections, not individual files.

References:

• Recover your Microsoft 365 files
• How to recover missing, deleted or corrupted items in SharePoint and OneDrive for work or school
• Find lost or missing files in OneDrive
• I got an "Upload failed" or "Couldn't save automatically" error while editing an Office file
• retrieving an accidental Excel file deleted - Microsoft Q&A
• How do i retrieve lost data from the month before? - Microsoft Q&A