How to Recover Deleted Excel Files on Mac [with 4 Tested Methods]

This article will introduce how to recover deleted Excel files on a Mac. Download and install EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac Pro to recover deleted Excel files on your Mac with only 3 steps!

Table of Contents

Suppose your work involves a lot of calculations. In that case, you should be no stranger to Excel spreadsheets, which are files containing a large number of calculations and operations to be performed, usually with a ".xlxs" extension.

When your work requires you to open multiple Excel files, you are likely to exit one of them but accidentally click Don't Save Excel on Mac or mistakenly delete an important Excel file. Don't worry! In this article, we will guide you on how to recover deleted Excel files on Mac.

Can I Recover Deleted Excel Files on a Mac

Yes. We all know the deleted items on a Mac will move to the Trash bin program and stay there for 30 days before being permanently deleted. So, if you want to recover deleted Excel files on Mac, one of the quick solutions is to recover deleted files on Mac from the Trash bin.

How to Recover Deleted Excel Files on Mac

However, if the deleted Excel files can't be found in the Trash bin, how to retrieve them? The answer is using third-party file recovery software. Read on to learn the detailed information!

Fix 1. Recover Deleted Excel Files on Mac Using Software

In most cases, your deleted item will be moved to the Trash, but if you delete a file using the shortcut, such as "Command + Delete" and "Command + Option + Delete", or right-click on an Excel file and select "Delete Immediately" to delete it, it will not be found in the Trash. In this case, consider using the professional file recovery software EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac Pro.

With the EaseUS software, you can quickly find and recover permanently deleted files on Mac. So, even if you can't find the deleted Excel files in the Trash, you can use this powerful file recovery tool to scan your Mac hard drive and locate the deleted Excel files.

Download and install EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac Pro. Use its powerful scanning capabilities to quickly scan your Mac's hard disk for deleted, lost, and unsaved files. Then, choose and recover the recoverable files you need. Here are the steps you can refer to:

Note: You can create a backup by clicking the "Disk Backup" on the left first. The software will recover the document from the backup image. It can prevent further damage to your disk and data, making it safer and more reliable.

Step 1. Scan for lost documents

Select the location where your important Word/Excel/PPT/Numbers/Pages documents were lost and click "Search for lost files".

select a location and scan for lost documents on Mac

Step 2. Find lost documents on Mac

EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac will immediately start a scan on your selected disk volume. Meanwhile, the scanning results will be presented in the left pane. Select "Documents" and you can quickly filter the DOC/PDF/PPT/XLS files you've lost earlier.

choose the lost documents

Step 3. Recover lost/deleted documents

Select the target files and preview them by double-clicking them. Then, click "Recover" to get lost documents back at once.

recover lost documents from Mac

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Fix 2. Search for Deleted Excel Files in Mac Trash

As we mentioned, you can recover the Excel files deleted no more than 30 days from your Trash program on your Mac; follow the steps below:

Step 1. Open the "Trash" bin by clicking the trash bin icon on your Mac dock.

What the Trash icon look like

Step 2. Type the deleted Excel file name in the search box, and hit "Enter". If you don't remember the file name, you can search for the file extension ".xlxs" to find all Excel files in the Trash bin.

Step 3. Right-click on the Excel file you want to recover, and click "Put Back" to recover the deleted Excel File to its original storage location.

put back in Trash

If you can't save Excel files on Mac, here's an article guide on recovering unsaved Excel files; take a look!

recover lost or unsaved Excel files on Mac

3 Methods: Recover Unsaved or Lost Excel Files on Mac

This article introduces two ways to help you recover lost unsaved Excel file documents on a Mac. Read more >>

Fix 3. Restore Deleted Excel Files from Time Machine

Can't find deleted files in the Trash but want to recover deleted files without software? Consider using the built-in backup tool Time Machine. Here are the steps to recover deleted files from Time Machine:

Note: Restore from an old Time Machine backup may overwrite new data on your Mac, so remember to save new data before restoring the deleted one.

Step 1. Right-click on the Time Machine icon at the top menu, and select the "Browse Time Machine Backups" option from the extended list.

browse Time Machine backups

Step 2. Choose a backup that stores the deleted Excel files you want to restore by the time and date.

Step 3. Click "Restore" to return the deleted Excel files to their original location.

How to Recover Files from Time Machine Backup

Fix 4. Recover Deleted Excel Files on Mac for Free

Here is a free version of data recovery software to recover your deleted Excel files on Mac. PhotoRec can effectively recover deleted files, but the operation is complicated and not very friendly to some novice users. You can also try EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac Free, which has a simple and easy-to-use interface and offers a free 5GB recovery capacity trial.

Check out the following steps to recover the deleted Excel files on a Mac for free:

Step 1. Download and install PhotoRec on your Mac.

Step 2. Open Terminal to launch the PhotoRec app

open Terminal

Step 3. Press the arrow key to choose the location where the deleted Excel files were stored.

PhotoRec terminal command

Step 4. Press "C" to start file scanning on your Mac, and recover the deleted Excel files in the selected folder.

the second PhotoRec command

Conclusion

This article introduces 4 effective methods to recover deleted Excel files on a Mac: using EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac Pro, restoring from the Trash bin, restoring from a Time Machine backup, and using the free data recovery software PhotoRec.

Among these methods, using EaseUS data recovery software is the fastest and most convenient method that allows zero-experienced users to recover deleted Excel files in just three steps.

How to Recover Deleted Excel Files on Mac FAQs

Here are questions people also ask when they search for how to recover deleted Excel files on a Mac:

1. Can I recover a permanently deleted Excel File?

Yes, you can recover permanently deleted files on Mac, including Excel files, by the following methods:

Method 1. Install EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac Pro, and follow the instructions to recover permanently deleted Excel files.

Method 2. Contact EaseUS Data Recovery Services to ask the file recovery specialists for help.

Method 3. Restore from an online backup such as iCloud, Google Drive, OneDrive, etc.

Method 4. Restore from a Tima Machine backup, which stores the permanently deleted Excel files.

2. How do I recover a deleted Excel spreadsheet on a Mac?

You can use the powerful data recovery software to recover a deleted Excel spreadsheet on your Mac. Follow the steps:

Step 1. Install EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac Pro, and choose the location where the deleted Excel spreadsheet was stored.

Step 2. Click "Search for lost files" to display all the deleted files in the selected location.

Step 3. Choose the deleted Excel spreadsheet and click "Recover" to get it back.

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Updated by Brithny

Brithny is a technology enthusiast, aiming to make readers' tech lives easy and enjoyable. She loves exploring new technologies and writing technical how-to tips. In her spare time, she loves sharing things about her game experience on Facebook or Twitter.

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