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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...
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  • 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! 
Rich's avatar
Rich
Icon for Super User II rankSuper User II
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

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