We are aware of the issue with the badge emails resending to everyone, we apologise for the inconvenience - learn more here.

Forum Discussion

kevinstaake's avatar
kevinstaake
New member | Level 2
6 years ago

Didn't Save, Need to Recover File

Hi there. I'd been working on an Excel doc on desktop Dropbox and accidentally closed the program without saving. Now I've lost 4 hours of progress and can only restore to the version I last saved at...
FAQ
Restore
Security
Team admin
Third Party Integrations
  • Jane's avatar
    Jane
    6 years ago
    Hey there (kevinstaake), sorry to hear that you couldn’t locate the file version you were looking for. As an initial pointer, I’d suggest checking back at the Version History of the file in question on your account online (tip: it’s on the on the 💬 of your excel). From there, I’m wondering if the version you’re looking for was saved back on the Recents of the app you used to modify your spreadsheet. Can you have a second look on whether this applies? 
     
    It may be worth mentioning that Dropbox is a syncing tool that mirrors ( :computer: ▶️ 🕸️ ▶️ :iphone:) any changes made to your content on your account online & across your devices Kevin, whereas the Autosave functionality pertains specifically to the third party app you used to edit your spreadsheet. 
     
    In any event, please do keep me updated here on the results you’re getting on your end & I’ll do my best to follow-up with you. Thanks again for posting your question on our Community! 
HLMJ's avatar
HLMJ
Explorer | Level 3
6 years ago

I am hoping someone can help me-- I was working on a Mac Word document stored on Dropbox all morning-- about 3.5 hours of work-- and I have autosave and know I saved it multiple times.  My computer froze up and we ended up having to do a reboot of it. When the computer started up, I noticed none of the work I did today was saved-- neither on Dropbox or my computer-- only yesterday's version is present on Dropbox and it's listed as the most current version. I've checked my delete file and previous versions on both desktop and Dropbox.  Is there anything else I can do before re-writing?  

  • Jane's avatar
    Jane
    Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
    6 years ago
    Hey there (HLMJ), sorry to hear about your missing edits; kindly note I’ve moved your post under this discussion here, just in order to ping you on my pointers above. Would you mind having a look at my previous comment & let me know whether any of those apply in your current situation?
     
    Now, as you’ve mentioned that you’ve already checked the Version History of the file in question & this wasn’t updated online, I’m wondering if everything else is working correctly. Have you checked whether other files were updated as expected on your Mac :desktop:/on your account online within the same timeframe? Are you running the latest version of your OS & Word on your Mac? 
     
    Please do let me know of your findings in your next message & we’ll take it from there!
    • HLMJ's avatar
      HLMJ
      Explorer | Level 3
      6 years ago

      Hi Jane, thanks for the response. I am running 10.14.3 on my Mac and I'm pretty sure my Word is up-to-date. My IT dept looked into everything too and they can't find a trace of any updates between about 9 AM and noon when my system crashed. We ran a data recovery program overnight and it's only got my Wednesday draft and the work I did after it crashed to try to rewrite it. It's the weirdest thing.  If we can't find it, I'll rewrite it all but it does make me nervous about using Dropbox--even though I've used it for a longtime and love it. I'm not sure there's anything that can be done to recover my file at your end?  Thanks! H

  • Rich's avatar
    Rich
    Icon for Super User II rankSuper User II
    6 years ago
    HLMJ wrote:

    I am hoping someone can help me-- I was working on a Mac Word document stored on Dropbox all morning-- about 3.5 hours of work-- and I have autosave and know I saved it multiple times.

    If you had autosave enabled in Word and saved multiple times, that version of the file would still be on your local drive. Dropbox has nothing to do with that process. The versions that Dropbox can recover would be the files that Dropbox synced to your account online. If Dropbox didn't sync them, then they either weren't in your Dropbox folder or the file was never saved, and it certainly sounds like the file wasn't saving as you thought it was.

    ... but it does make me nervous about using Dropbox

    Don't be. This has nothing to do with Dropbox. If the file was saved in the Dropbox folder, and Dropbox was able to access it, Dropbox would sync it. The fact that you couldn't find the file on your drive indicates that Word wasn't saving it.

    Double-check that you have the Autosave feature enabled in Office.

    • HLMJ's avatar
      HLMJ
      Explorer | Level 3
      6 years ago

      Hi,

      >If you had autosave enabled in Word and saved multiple times, that version of the file would still be on your local drive.

      I do and I did. It's all very strange. I've decided to spend the time re-writing and hope it doesn't happen again. Thanks for the help! H

About Delete, edit, and organize

Solve issues with deleting, editing, and organizing files and folders in your Dropbox account with support from the Dropbox Community.

Need more support

If you need more help you can view your support options (expected response time for an email or ticket is 24 hours), or contact us on X or Facebook.

For more info on available support options for your Dropbox plan, see this article.

If you found the answer to your question in this Community thread, please 'like' the post to say thanks and to let us know it was useful!