How to Recover Previous Version of Excel File on Mac
"How to restore previous version of Excel file Mac after I overwrote some data and saved it? I’ve searched several threads but one of them got what I need exactly."
Many people asked the same question in different forums over the internet. It’s a dilemma that you’re afraid of losing the latest version of Excel, so you press Command and S regularly to save it. However, the latest version is not always the one you want especially your Mac automatically changed the data on the Excel without your permission. Here in the following, I’m going to tell you how to recover previous version of Excel file on Mac in Microsoft Excel for Mac 2011, 2016 and 2020.
- Quick Navigation
- Method #1. Press Command and Z to Recover Saved Over Excel File on Mac
- Method #2. Recover Previous Version of Excel File on Mac by Built-in Tool
- Method #3. Retrieve Lost/Deleted Excel Files on Mac with Software
Method #1. Press Command and Z to Recover Saved Over Excel File on Mac
If you’re working on the Excel file or have kept the Excel opening all the time, you can try to press the Command and Z button at the same time to get back old version of excel file on Mac. It is the easiest way. However, you have to do the get-back several times.
Method #2. Recover Previous Version of Excel File on Mac by the Built-in Tool
Many software tools on Mac are able to save versions of documents automatically whenever you open, duplicate, close or even delete the documents. It is the same with Worksheet on Mac. In this case, you can easily Excel restore previous version you need. Here are the steps for how to restore previous version of excel file on Mac:
- Open the latest version of the Excel file.
- Choose "File" > "Restore" > "Restore to Last Saved to Recovering"
- You need to tick marks along the timeline to browse all versions of the Excel file. It could be a long list if you have edited the Excel file many times.
- Find the previous version of the Excel file you need and choose how you want it to be on your Mac.
- If you want to restore the current version to the previous version, click "Restore". If you just want to save it to your Mac without overwriting the current one, press and hold the Option key, then click "Restore a Copy".
My suggestion for you is to save a version explicitly. All you need is to open the previous excel file on Mac, then choose "File" > "Save" > "Save As". After then, you can choose a place on your Mac to recover previous version of Excel file on Mac with a different name.
Method #3. Retrieve Lost/Deleted Excel Files on Mac with Software
If you only need to get back the previous version of the Excel file on Mac, I think method 2 will do. However, if the Excel file is lost or deleted, you can restore it only with the help of a professional tool, like iBeesoft Data Recovery for Mac. In the following, how to find permanently deleted or lost Excel files on Mac with Software.
- Install Excel File Recovery Software for macOS
- Select Files to Scan
- Select Mac Drive to Scan
- Preview and save lost Excel files
Download iBeesoft Data Recovery for Mac on your computer. It is virus-free, professional and trustworthy data recovery software which is designed for people to recover Excel file on Mac. It is fully compatible with Excel and macOS Mojave and former versions.
It is ready to scan for all the supported files by default. You need to uncheck the unwanted file types, only keeping the "Documents " option selected and click "Start" to extract files.
All hard drive of your Mac are listed in the main window. From there, you need to select the one from where you have lost the Excel file. And then, click "Scan".You can see the software is scanning your Mac for the Excel worksheets right away.
It only take a few seconds for the best recovery software for Mac to scan the Excel files. After then, you can see all the found worksheet files are listed in the result window. Find the one you need and click "Recover" to save them to your Mac again.