Microsoft Excel is the pioneer of digital documentation that has revolutionized the corporate and education industry with its cutting-edge spreadsheet software. However, it is very likely to get your essential tabs deleted while working on Excel. If you have experienced this problem, then do not worry. I will share some simple methods to recover deleted or lost Excel sheets in your workbook. So, without losing any moment, let’s get started.
Quick Links
- Brief Overview
- How To Find Missing Sheets In Excel
- How Do I Enable The Sheet Option On MS Excel?
- How To Recover Deleted Tabs In Excel
- How Do I Retrieve Deleted Excel Worksheet After Save?
- Bonus Tips To Save Your MS Excel Tabs From Accidental Deletion
- Can I Restore Deleted Tabs In Excel? Final Verdict
- FAQs
Brief Overview
You can recover deleted Excel tabs by restoring the previous versions of your Excel workbook which can be accessed from the Windows File Explorer. However, if the File History is turned off then you will never be able to get back deleted tabs or sheets in Excel.
How To Recover Deleted Tabs In Excel
If you accidentally delete an Excel tab while working on it then you can get back deleted tabs by following the below steps:
1. First, select the File option and click on Save As.
2. Then, rename your Excel workbook and click on the Save button. With this, your unsaved work will be saved in a different file.
3. Now, close your original Excel workbook and click on the Don’t Save button.
4. After this, open the original Excel workbook and your deleted tabs will be restored. Now, copy your deleted Excel tabs or sheets from the original file and paste them into your new Excel workbook which you saved in step 2 above.
With this, deleted tabs in Excel will be restored without losing your data.
Note: The above-explained steps would not be applicable if you have saved your original workbook after deleting your Excel tabs or sheets.
How Do I Retrieve Deleted Excel Worksheet After Save?
In case, you saved your work progress after deleting your Excel sheets then your file will get overwritten automatically. You can revert the deletion of your tabs by restoring the previous version of your Excel file. This can be done by accessing the File History of your Excel workbook.
However, if you have not set up the File History feature then your sheet will be lost forever and there will be no way to undelete permanently deleted Excel tabs. To undelete the deleted Excel tab or sheet, follow the below steps:
1. First, open the Windows File Explorer on your PC and select your Excel file.
2. Then right-click on the selected Excel file and select Restore previous versions.
3. After this, a small window will appear on your PC’s screen and you will see a list of all your earlier versions of your Excel file.
4. Finally, select the recent version of your Excel workbook and click on the Restore button.
How To Find Missing Sheets In Excel
At times, it might happen that the Excel tabs are not deleted but hidden. If for some reason, your tabs are hidden in your workbook then you can unhide your Excel sheets by following the below steps:
1. First, right-click on the remaining tab and select the Unhide… option.
2. Finally, select the Sheet you want to restore in Excel and click on the OK button.
How Do I Enable The Sheet Option On MS Excel?
In case, you cannot see any tab on your PC’s Excel screen then it means that your Show Sheets tab option is disabled. But do not worry, I will tell you how to fix the missing Sheets or Tabs option on your Excel by following the steps mentioned below:
1. First, navigate to the File menu and click on Options. After this, a new window will pop up on your PC screen.
2. Next, select Advanced from the left side panel and scroll down to the Display options for this workbook.
3. Finally, select the Show sheet tabs and click on OK.
Bonus Tips To Save Your MS Excel Tabs From Accidental Deletion
Here are the two most important things that you should do to save your tabs from deletion:
Enable File History On Windows 10
You can set up File History by following the steps below:
1. First, connect a storage drive to your PC and open Windows File Explorer.
2. Now, select the folder for which you want to create History versions and click on History.
3. After that, a window will appear on your PC screen. Then select Configure File History settings…
4. Finally, select the Turn On button. From now on, the File History will continue to save copies of your Excel files.
Note: If you disconnect the external drive then your file history will automatically be turned off. If you want to turn on your file history again then just reconnect the drive and follow the steps above.
Set Up Auto-Saving
Auto-save settings automatically save your Excel files after a certain time period and prevent your Excel tabs from accidental deletion. If you have not enabled auto-save then you can do it by following the below steps:
1. Go to File and click on Options from the left panel on your MS Excel.
2. Now, click on Save and check the Save Autorecover information box. Then, adjust the time duration using the Up-Down Arrow keys.
3. Finally, select the OK button and your auto-save settings will be enabled.
Can I Restore Deleted Tabs In Excel? Final Verdict
Yes, it is possible to recover deleted Excel tab(s) and I have described how you can retrieve your lost or accidentally deleted worksheet in Excel. Furthermore, I have shared easy steps to enable File History and auto-save so that you can keep your essential Excel sheets from deletion.
FAQs
Can We Recover Deleted Sheet In Excel After Save?
Yes, if you have enabled the Windows File History feature then you can retrieve your deleted Excel sheets by restoring previous file versions.
How Do I Get Back My Accidentally Deleted Tabs In Excel?
First, close your workbook without saving then reopen your Excel file. By doing this, your mistakenly deleted tabs will be recovered.
How Do I View Hidden Sheets In Excel?
Right-click on the Excel tab and click on the Unhide option. After that, select the hidden sheet(s) and click on the OK button.
