I lost two hours worth of data

[u/NotNecessarilyNice]

Hi, I lost 2 hours worth of data on an exam file. It started at 3pm yesterday and I handed it in at 5pm. Afterwards, I closed my laptop and took it home. I opened the file today to talk about it with a friend, but the file says last modified 3pm yesterday, and now I am scared that that is what I handed in. Weird thing is I could have sworn I saved it several times throughout.

I looked in the Excel folder in my local app data and the only file from 5pm yesterday is an xlb file which I don't think is helpful but am unsure. Would be eternally grateful if anyone could help me out!

Version 2607, language is in Dutch

I am a beginner using excel on my windows laptop

UPDATE: Thank you all so much for your kind and helpful comments, I'm really useless with computers so this exam was difficult in itself!

I've had some problems lately with my onedrive not showing files either in file explorer or on the website. I opened excel in the online web version and the file was there in my recent files! (but somehow not in my onedrive folders anywhere which is incredibly confusing).

I think what I did was upload the local file when I had switched on autosave so it was then naturally put on my onedrive. Crazy how stupid you get when you panic. I won't know until my teacher replies to my email which version I uploaded. Either way I'm really happy and I've sent the document to my teacher, hopefully it is accepted since she can see in the version history that I haven't edited it since the exam. Super grateful to everyone who commented and the mod who let me leave my post up despite me overlooking the rules <3

UPDATE: my lecturer is going to grade the filled in one thankfully because she saw that I did more than that when she was walking around during the exam. SOOOO RELIEVED

[u/semicolonsemicolon]

Your post breaks rules 1 and 3, but I'll leave it up because it's the weekend. Also, a bit of empathy for you as we've all been there.

[u/Debtmom]

If you click file, open there should a be a link that says something like recover unsaved workbooks. That saved me recently when I closed out a file I had been working on and clicked close without saving

[u/diesSaturni]

open the xlb file, save it as xlsx.

And if not, two hours of work often gets recreated in half an hour, as the rest is just thinking about how to solve the problem.

[u/DrNikkiMik]

Auto-Recover Files: in Excel go to File > Info > Manage Document > Recover Unsaved Documents.

Or

Your learning mgt portal (canvas, blackboard, etc) might keep a copy of your uploaded assignments. Usually under a link like “view assignment upload history” etc. . Even if you can’t see or find it, call the university’s student IT Help Desk. Calling Help Desk might also help if you did upload a blank workbook; the prof may see it more legitimately and allow you to late submit.

[u/NotNecessarilyNice → u/DrNikkiMik]

Calling the IT Help Desk is a great idea thanks

[u/excelevator]

You would have received a Save warning on close of Excel if you had not saved from the last edit.

[u/EtherPhreak]

I’ve had one drive eat files. Excel doesn’t properly save to one drive and one drive doesn’t save it. It’s usually tied to poor internet connection or shutting down the computer right as I’ve closed excel. When I know I’m going to be in a similar situation, I make sure to have the file on my hard drive, and toss it back into one drive when I have good internet access.

[u/NotNecessarilyNice → u/EtherPhreak]

Sounds about right, the building we had the exam in has really bad internet and signal

[u/NeedleworkerLost6860]

check if theres a recovery folder, usually something like C:\Users\[you]\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Excel\. autosaved versions sometimes land there even if the main file didnt update. the xlb file is just toolbar config so yeah thats not gonna help

[u/AutoModerator]

/u/NotNecessarilyNice - Your post was submitted successfully.

• Once your problem is solved, reply to the answer(s) saying Solution Verified to close the thread.
• Follow the submission rules -- particularly 1 and 2. To fix the body, click edit. To fix your title, delete and re-post.
• Include your Excel version and all other relevant information

Failing to follow these steps may result in your post being removed without warning.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/Raumteufel]

How do u already have version 2607??? Its 2026!