How to Recover Overwritten Excel Files

When you keep adding new files to your computer while losing old ones, you sometimes overwrite the old ones. If you save a new file on your computer when there is already one with the same name, and then "replace" the old file with the new one, this can also happen.

Then, how to recover Excel files that have been wiped on a Windows computer? That's why this article was made just for you. You will find out how to get back deleted Excel files from temporary files, older versions of Excel, and finally, a tool called AOMEI FastRecovery that is used by professionals.

Recover overwritten Excel files from Windows 10/11

Several built-in Microsoft features can save and track your changed version of overwritten Excel files, so don't worry if you need to get them back quickly.

Solution 1: Get back Excel files that have been overwritten from temporary files

As you work on your Excel file, Office makes a backup copy of it in case you haven't saved it yet. Keep in mind that these temporary files will not overwrite your first files. However, if you save Excel and accidentally delete some files, you can still find them in the temporary files.

Step 1. Go to the File Explorer, copy and paste the following path in the search box, then press Enter:

Step 2. Find the temporary file you need.

Step 3. Open the file and click Save As to recover the overwritten Excel file.

Solution 2: Use the built-in tool in Excel to get back overwritten Excel files

You can use the Office tool to get back overwritten Excel files if you couldn't find the files you need in the temporary folder.

Step 1. Start by opening your Excel and selecting "File".

Step 2. Decide to "Manage Workbook" after choosing the "Info" tab located on the left end.

Step 3. Select the option "Recover Unsaved Workbooks".

Step 4. Next, choose the file in question and click to "Open" it.

Step 5. Finally, recover the overwritten file by selecting "Save As" and completing the process.

Solution 3. Recover overwritten Excel file from the Previous Version

The second thing you can do to get back the deleted Excel file in Windows is to use an older version of your file. For older versions to help you get back your Excel file, follow these steps:

Step 1. Locate your current saved-over Excel file or opt to create a new one with the same name as the Excel file that has been overwritten.

Step 2. Now right-click on this Excel file and choose to open its "Properties".

Step 3. On the menu tab, choose the "Previous Versions" button, then select the version you want to restore or the latest version of the file you have.

Solution 4. Recover Overwritten Excel File via AutoSave

Step 1. Open the Excel File that has been overwritten in Microsoft Excel.

Step 2. Click the File option from the top left corner, then click Info.

Step 3. Find the Versions or Manage Workbook option. All the recently auto-saved Excel files will be listed here.

Step 4. Select an Excel file that was saved before the overwrite. And check if it contains the information you need.

Step 5. Press Ctrl+S to save the file if you find the right one.

Solution 5. Restore Overwritten Excel File from Cloud

If the Excel overwrite problem happens on a Cloud storage location, such as OneDrive or Google Drive, it is easy to access the previous version to recover the overwritten Excel files.

Here are the steps to recover overwritten Excel files on OneDrive:

Step 1. Log in to your OneDrive account.

Step 2. Find the Excel file in the location where it was stored, and right-click on it. Locate the Version history option or a similar option, and click on it.

Step 3. Select the version of the Excel file you want to recover and start restoring. Then, the selected version will be recovered to your account.

How to Recover deleted Excel files from Windows

If you deleted Excel files by mistake or lost them because of formatting, a virus, a power outage, or something else, try to get them back from a backup. If you don't have a backup, the best thing to do is use the highly recommended data recovery tool, AOMEI FastRecovey.

Solution 1: Restore deleted files from File History

If you enabled the File History feature, check if there are any available backup and restore from it using the following steps.

Step 1. Go to Control Panel > System and Security and click File History.

Step 2. Select Restore personal files. It will open file history recovery window.

Step 3. Click the left arrow to locate your deleted files, and click the Restore to original location icon to restore deleted Excel files.

Solution 2: Recover deleted Excel files with software

Professional data recovery software is the last thing you can try to get back your deleted Excel file. There are a lot of professional data recovery tools online, so you might be confused about which one is the best. Have no more doubts, because the AOMEI FastRecovery is a robust tool you can trust to safely get back your deleted Excel files. It is a professional tool that can get back data in several forms, including Excel files, zipped files, pictures, videos, and music.

AOMEI FastRecovery is a professional tool, but its design is very friendly, so it's easy to use. No matter what version of Windows PC or Windows Server you have, you can use this tool. AOMEI FastRecovery can help you get back things that you deleted, formatted your system, or lost because of damaged SD cards and hard drives that were left over after your system crashed.

AOMEI FastRecovery that costs a lot:
1. Two advanced ways to scan: Deep Scan and Quick Scan. It will deeply and quickly search your disk for Excel files and show them to you.
2. Get back lost or deleted Excel files and more than 200 other types of files.
3. Recover lost data files from a hard drive, an SSD, a USB drive, an SD card, or any other storage device, no matter what file system it uses (NTFS, FAT32, exFAT, ReFS, etc.).
4. Sort and find Excel files by their name, the place where they came from the date they were last changed, and their size.

Step 1. Install and launch AOMEI FastRecovery. Choose the exact partition or disk where your data lost and click Scan.

Step 2. Then, the recovery tool start to scan and search. lt will execute the “Quickly Scan" first for finding your deleted data fast, and then execute the “Deep Scan" for searching other lost data.

Step 3. Once the scan is completed, all deleted files, recycle bins and other missing files will be displayed. Please select the file you would like to recover and then click "Recover".

Step 4. Then, select a folder path to save your recovered files.

Step 5. Wait patiently for this process of recovering ends.

Final lines

With the information in this article, you now know how to recover overwritten Excel files and also deleted Excel files on your Windows computer. If you act quickly, this will work better. To get back your Excel files, though, the best way is to use a third-party app like AOMEI FastRecovery. You can be sure that this tool will get you files that have been replaced for a long time.