recovering a lost .xls in win 7

Smiling_Sam

This evening I tried to open an .xls file from a folder on the computer, it keeps coming up with a message to say "file could not be found, verify the spelling and file location is correct"...."make sure the file has not been moved, renamed, deleted".....neither of which i have done.

Anyone any suggestions how to recover it?

Neil_Jones

Means you've moved it.  Probably be accident.

Use search for that file and see where it is.

macman

Is the file visible?
Do a System Restore back to the last recovery point when you could open the file.?
Can you open other files in Excel? Try opening it from within the application itself.
W7 has not been supported for over a year now and it is now time that you updated to a modern and secure OS, as your system will be increasingly vulnerable with no security updates or patches..

CoastingHatbox

How are you trying to open the file?
From the recent items menu?
Or a shortcut to the file?
Is the file stored locally on the machine or a network share? It's not open by another instance of Excel, running as a different user? (..unlikely I know, but worth asking)

Smiling_Sam

thanks for the replies

Its on a stand-alone hard-drive. The file icon is visible, when i click on it it goes through the motions of opening but at the last minute tells me the above text.

I have tried opening it from within excel and its still the same

Smiling_Sam

are there any recommended programs for recovering old .xls files?

CoastingHatbox

Is it an '.xls' file or an '.xlsx' file?

Are you able to copy it from that standalone (external?) hard drive to somewhere else?

debitcardmayhem

It might be "unsaved" or the drive may have been removed unsafely. try

Open Excel, and click "File" > "Open" > "Recent" > "Recover Unsaved Workbooks"

Smiling_Sam

CoastingHatbox said:

Is it an '.xls' file or an '.xlsx' file?

Are you able to copy it from that standalone (external?) hard drive to somewhere else?

I tried it...tells me the file is corrupted or unreadable...can't even delete it

Smiling_Sam

debitcardmayhem said:

It might be "unsaved" or the drive may have been removed unsafely. try

Open Excel, and click "File" > "Open" > "Recent" > "Recover Unsaved Workbooks"

I don't seem to have those functions in this version of microsoft excel

Smiling_Sam

i tried to recover previous versions but it says there were any.

Ironically it is a workbook that I have been running for years