Excel File Disappeared from Desktop? Here Are 5 Ways!

How do I recover an Excel file from desktop?

Most people will put frequently used or recently-processed files on the desktop of the computer so that they can be accessed easily and quickly. However, some users report that they find the excel file opens then disappears from desktop. Why has my Excel file disappeared from desktop?

Common reasons are that files disappear due to accidental deletion or cleaning by anti-virus software. How to get back Excel file lost/deleted from desktop? If your excel document disappeared from computer desktop, don't worry. Five solutions offered in this guide can help you retrieve missing files without a hitch, whether you have saved them or not.

Section 1. Recover Unsaved Excel files missing from desktop

If you have not saved your Excel document before losing it, you can perform unsaved Excel file recovery from temporary files or with the native recovery features of Microsoft Office applications, AutoRecover.

Next, we will show complete guidelines on recovering unsaved Excel file missing from desktop within a few minutes.

Way 1. Recover disappeared Excel documents from temp files

In Microsoft Excel, temporary files are saved as backups, which means that they can be easily found and recovered. The excel recovery file location for temporary files is

C:\Users\User_Name\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Office\UnsavedFiles.

You can directly go to the location of Excel temp files to recover Excel file disappeared from desktop on Windows 10 and other operating systems. Or, you could find and recover unsaved Excel lost files with the following steps:

Step 1. Open Excel and click on File.

Step 2. In the Open tab, click Recent and tap Recover Unsaved Workbooks.

Step 3. All unsaved Excel temp files will be listed on the pop-up screen. Open the one you want and save it to get it recovered.

Way 2. Recover lost Excel files from AutoRecover

AutoRecover is a powerful feature in Microsoft Office that allows you to retrieve lost Excel data, as well as recover unsaved Word documents, PDF files, etc. If you have saved the Microsoft Excel file at least once before it disappeared from your computer, it is possible to restore the last autosaved Excel.

You can refer to the guide below to restore Excel file disappeared on Windows 10 desktop and other systems.

Step 1. Start Microsoft Excel and navigate to File.

Step 2. Select Info from the left menu, tap on the Manage Workbook position, and choose Recover Unsaved Workbooks.

Step 3. Then, find your missing desktop document and click Open.

Step 4. Click the Save As button on the top to save it on your computer.

Section 2. Recover saved Excel file disappeared from desktop

3 options in this section enable you to recover saved Excel files disappeared from computer desktop. Let’s explore them one by one.

Way 1. Recover missing Excel files with free file recovery software [Recommend]

What if the file has been deleted from the computer desktop and is not stored in the Recycle Bin? You will need a professional data recovery tool, like FastRecovery, to help you retrieve your lost Excel files.

This tool is a free file recovery software that supports the recovery of more than 1000 types of files such as Excel, Word, PFT, PPT, etc. It can recover permanently deleted data from computer without any hassle.

Step 1. Launch FastRecovery on your computer. Then, click Deleted Files Recovery. You can also choose a more suitable alternative, such as Disk Data Recovery. All of them can help you retrieve data without causing any damage.

Step 2. You'll see all available drives. Hover the mouse over the drive, then click Scan to scan.

Step 2. The scanning process will start automatically. You can select files by Type (default) or Path, and combine them with options to sort, filter, search, and preview files. 

Step 3. Select the Excel files you need, and then click Recover. Please choose a NEW location to save the recovered Excel file disappeared from desktop safely.

FastRecovery

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• High-speed recovery: It restores data at a quick speed and a quick recovery rate.
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• Easy to use: With a user-friendly interface, it allows you to recover data in 3 steps.
• Widely used: It can be used to recover data from a computer local disk, external hard drive, USB drive, SD card, and so on.

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Way 2. Get back lost Excel files from Recycle Bin

Occasionally, desktop files will be removed by accident or would be deleted by antivirus software that identifies your excel as a harmful file. In this case, you can first check and recover missing Excel files from Recycle Bin.

Step 1. Go to Recycle Bin

Open Recycle Bin from your desktop or File Explorer.

Step 2. Locate lost Excel files

Find your lost desktop files in Recycle Bin.

Step 3. Restore lost Excel files

Right-click on Excel files, and select Restore.

Way 3. Search for Excel documents on computer for recovery

Excel files that have disappeared from the desktop are not found in the Recycle Bin? There is a possibility that it is only the shortcut to your file disappeared. You can perform missing Excel file recovery by searching for a specific file type on your computer.

Step 1. Press the Windows key and S key together or click to open Windows Search Box, and then enter the filename of your missing Excel file.

Step 2. Then, check if the file that disappeared from desktop is found.

Conclusion

If you are experiencing the "Excel file disappeared from desktop" issue, you can perform desktop file recovery by following the methods above. Besides, you are highly recommended to make a backup of your precious files on your PC using AOMEI Backupper, since data loss occurs unexpectedly.

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