Recover Excel files after upgrading Microsoft Office

Time Macine is an included application in macOS that allows one to perform regularly scheduled backups of the Mac to a properly configured third-party drive connected to the Mac. One can then access the Time Machine drive to restore files that have inadvertently been lost from the local drive. My Time Machine backups occur hourly for files that change between backups.

Apple's iCloud Drive is a convenience for file storage but is not a backup solution.

See Back up your Mac with Time Machine - Apple Support

On macOS Tahoe (26.*), Time Machine can be configured in System Settings > General > Time Machine, after you have used Disk Utility to format an external drive as an APFS backup drive. Ask in the Tahoe community here about how to go about that.

My use of the word distribution means the Microsoft Office 2024 installation.

Since you found one file, the others are very likely sitting in the same folder. Here's an easy way to get back to all of them.

Click the Finder icon in the Dock (the blue smiley face), press Command-F, click "This Mac" near the top, then type xlsx in the search box at the top right. That lists every Excel file on your Mac. If you don't see a bar along the bottom of the window, choose View > Show Path Bar from the menu at the top of the screen. Now click any file in the list, and that bar shows exactly which folder it lives in. Double-click a folder in that bar and Finder opens it, with the rest of your files inside.

The "grant access" message is normal. It's just Excel asking permission to open a folder the first time, so click Grant Access when you see it.

— Dmitry · developer of ComfortFiles

To find your Excel files on your Mac download and run the shareware app Find Any File to search for any files with a particular file name.  For XXXX software you'd do the following search(es): 

1 - Name contains .xls

Any files that are found can be Option dragged from the search results window to the Desktop to get a copy of the file.

FAF can search areas that Spotlight can't like invisible folders, system folders and packages.  

You are not making sense.

Document files are separate from the applications.

Whether they were saved in your Mac's internal drive, or on a cloud service (which is what "OneDrive" is), they were NOT deleted by upgrading your software.

If the files were stored on Microsoft's OneDrive, did you install the current OneDrive from the Office 2024 distribution? OneDrive may not be automatically configured with the first launch of Excel and that would lead you to believe the files are missing.

I never use OneDrive, and though I do not lose Excel files, I also have them backed up on Time Machine as a fail safe recovery method.

So do you use the “Open Recents” when you are in Excel. That’s why they aren't there anymore but they have not been deleted by the Excel upgrade. Your Excel files are still on your computer.

Where did you save the file?

Surely you know where you store your files.

I don't mean for this to sound harsh or mean, but I feel it needs to be said.

You apparently have no understanding of how file systems and file storage work.

Your hard drive is like a file cabinet. The folders are like folders in the file cabinet into which you can put documents and even other folders containing documents or more folders.

Normally, if you open finder, you will see shortcuts on the left. Your documents are almost always stored in "Documents" or "Desktop".

If you use cloud storage services like OneDrive (Microsoft's cloud storage system) you may also have stored documents there. Ditto iCloud Drive (Apple's cloud storage system).

If you can't locate your files looking in these, I suggest you make an appointment at the Genius Bar of your local Apple Store.

The upgrade from Office 2021 to 2024 for Mac does not change or remove any related documents. I did this without any document loss.

Explain why you believe you need to recover any Excel files?

Thanks again. I’ve looked at these things in more detail now and understand.

The MS upgrade effectively is a “clean” upgrade and so it wiped all my excel files which is very unfortunate.

I have looked today and worked out how to save excel files to MS one drive going forward.

Ill sort out Time Machine if I find the MS option unsatisfactory.

Thanks for the help. Just an unfortunate set of events that neither Apple nor Microsoft can reverse. I suspect I clicked the wrong button during the upgrade and so lost the files unintentionally.

Where did you save the files?

The files are not stored as a part of Office. Removing Office would not remove or wipe your excel files.

The files are wherever you saved them to begin with.

Time Machine is only effective in recovering files if you actually know where they were stored in the first place.

Thanks Kilted Tim

I have found a file but cannot again get through the path to where this file was to get the others. My iMac said “grant access” when I found it but I cannot find it again and cannot see anywhere that again says “grant access"

any ideas

Dave13B wrote:

I've never used Time Machine. I dont know what that is or how to use it or the iCloud for back ups.

Im not computer literate

Well then it is imperative that you become computer literate immediately. For example not using Time Machine and/or iCloud is a recipe for utter disaster and total loss of all your files should a catastrophic failure befall you (like a fire).

Pay someone who is computer literate to find your Excel files if you can’t find them yourself.

Dave13B wrote:

Thanks Kilted Tim

I have found a file but cannot again get through the path to where this file was to get the others. My iMac said “grant access” when I found it but I cannot find it again and cannot see anywhere that again says “grant access"

any ideas

Hire a professional to sort out your missing files. You are obviously incapable of understanding what’s going on. Start using Time Machine to back up your files. The person you hire could also do that for you. Because of your inability to understand you will need to pay money to setup your Mac properly.

Thanks for replying. Files have disappeared and Im on to Apple support at the moment

I've never used Time Machine. I dont know what that is or how to use it or the iCloud for back ups.

Im not computer literate

What is the current one drive and i dont know what is meant by Microsoft distribution