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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 2pm yesterday. Isn't Dropbox supposed to autosave versions every few minutes? Please send help asap! Thank you!

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Accepted answers

Jane

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!

All comments

Jane

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

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

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

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

@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

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

gwrevare

Today I was editing a Microsoft Word file. I saved then closed the file, then opened it again to find it had reverted to a version from 6 hours ago.

There is nothing under version history besides one from earlier today (6 hours ago) and one last night. The entire day's work has been erased. I'm certain I was connected to the internet, and I saved multiple times while editing. The DB events list shows the above versions, nothing recent. Windows' internal "Restore previous versions" feature is empty.

Jane

Hey @gwrevare, kindly note that I moved your inquiry under this discussion, just so as to point you to the initial checks we’ve included on our posts with Rich. That said, if you haven’t been able to locate the version you’re looking for in Version History, then your best next step should checking whether you can retrieve your missing edits within Microsoft Word’s Recents.

Please have a look my suggestions at your earliest convenience & let me know how you get on with these steps or if you have further questions in your next reply here. Thanks!

gwrevare

Thanks for the help. So far, no solution. I've tried Microsoft's recover unsaved changes (blank) and previous versions (also blank)

Microsoft support's service says:

"Version history in Office only works for files stored in OneDrive or SharePoint Online. If you don't see this option it's possible your file is stored in a different service or on a local device."

Is this true? Does Microsoft's version history not work at all if your file is stored in dropbox?

Jane

Thanks for circling back to me on this matter @gwrevare; let’s take it from where we’ve left off!

It looks like we’re starting to connect the dots, however let me briefly clarify that each application retains its own versioning scheme. That said, if you’re working on a file you’ve stored on your Dropbox folder & you save your changes, then these should be reflected in Dropbox as well. If you can’t see the most Up-To-Date version of your docs in Dropbox, then this denotes that there’s probably an underlying syncing issue.

Unlinking & relinking your account on your desktop once can be helpful as a quick fix, since it recreates the local database. Would you mind giving it a go at your earliest convenience? When you do so, could you have a look at your overlay icons to see if your files are syncing correctly :arrows_counterclockwise:/:white_check_mark:?

From there, I’m wondering if you’ve also enquired to Microsoft regarding your missing edits by any chance, as I’m suspecting that this version hasn’t been synced to Dropbox so your best bet would be checking whether it can be retrieved within Microsoft Word.

I hope that this is helpful to some extent- please let me know if you make any progress on your end or you have any follow-up questions!

gwrevare

I unlinked then signed back into dropbox. Now none of my syncing icons are working.

Jane

Hmmm… 🤔 Interesting outcome @gwrevare (& thanks for sharing); at this point I’d recommend re-installing our app using the Offline installer which should eliminate similar discrepancies (& you can reference the steps outlined below to get going with that):

Spoiler

Stop Dropbox (If needed) by clicking the Dropbox icon in the system tray at the bottom of your screen. >Click on the icon in the Notifications panel and select "Quit Dropbox".

Uninstall Dropbox: [Note: If Dropbox was installed by a Windows administrator in Program Files, you will need admin permissions to remove the application.]> Click on the Start button on the bottom left of your screen, and select "Control Panel" (Windows 7), or type Control Panel at the Start screen or start menu, and click on it (Windows 10, 8 ).> Click "Uninstall a Program". >Select Dropbox from the list of programs and click "Uninstall".

When the uninstall finishes, reboot your computer. This will make sure the uninstall is complete.

At that point, I’d suggest disabling any Security/Antivirus programs & give our offline installer a try: https://www.dropbox.com/downloading?plat=win&type=full (Windows)

Nonetheless, if you’re still unable to see any syncing icons on your files, please let me know & I’ll make sure to reach out to you directly on my end, so as to check back on the specifics I have on my tools. Thanks again for sticking with me on our discussion here!

Tom25

Similar problem here.

Was trying to find the local AutoRecover file for the document, and went back through the AutoRecover folder for Word using Time Machine. Files that were locally saved on my machine (that I had open at the same time) generated an AutoRecover file, but not the file I had that was saved in Dropbox.

I'm left concluding that if a file is saved in Dropbox Microsoft Office may not make an AutoRecover file, which is pretty worrying.

Tamie

I had this exact same issue today. I had saved my word doc multiple times, working with my word doc in Dropbox. Then, I accidentally dropped my computer and the screen went blank. I restarted the computer, and when I opened my word doc, it only showed the version saved at 10:15 that morning, as if I hadn't saved it after that time. And Word also showed no previous versions. (That option was greyed out in Word.) So I"m afraid that the autosave function doesn't work if your document is in Dropbox. I've lost six hours of work, and now I don't trust dropbox.

Jane

Hey @Tamie, sorry to hear you’re feeling this way. Kindly note that after a crash or unexpected shutdown, the “Document Recovery Pane” should appear on the left when you start up Word, showing you work that might not have been saved; I’m wondering whether you got that once you relaunched Microsoft Word.

From there, I ran a search on our system & I could see that you’ve chatted in to my colleague, where you’ve made some progress together, so it would be best to gather all relevant details under the same email chain for convenience’ sake.

While I’ve now made sure to include a copy of your comments & I’ve increased your support priority internally, I remain at your entire disposal should you need more help in any way. Thanks!

rcookney

I am also in the same boat. But I didn't experience an unexpected shut down. I had a file which I was working on, saved it (it saved properly and synced). Came back a few days later, worked on the file for a couple more hours and saved (I know I saved because I completely closed out of Word and was prompted to save before closing).

Then went back to the file a couple of days later to find that my edits had not been saved. As such, there was nothing in 'recover unsaved files' because I had actually saved it. The version both locally and online was the version that I had worked on in the first instance without any edits.

Is this some kind of reverse sync issue? I need a solution otherwise I'll have to move from dropbox to another tool. I can't afford for that to happen again

rcookney

And just another update. I just did a test...

Went into the file I mentioned above. Did some more updates, saved as I went. Saved the document, closed out of word, reopened document - it only saved the edits from the save I did half way through, but not the final edits (just before I saved and closed). Luckily I copied and pasted them to another document.

Tamie

Here's what I'm doing now... I save my document and I automatically save a backup copy (option in Word.) When I save, I click the dropbox icon and it opens a list of recent activity. Sometimes it shows that the document was saved (edited), and sometimes it doesn't. I really don't understand why. One time, I simply added one extra word to the doc and pressed save and Dropbox never showed the document as being "edited." It only showed it as being "viewed." In desperation, I have saved the document with a new title, which never seems to fail to show up in Dropbox. This is definitely a concern!!!

Jane

Hey @rcookney & @Tamie, I understand your concern & I’ve now made sure to reach out to you directly via email, as I’d need to further look into the files causing you trouble in the first place. Whenever you find some time, please check your inboxes for my message if you’d like to work on that with me from that point on & I’ll make sure to promptly get back in touch with you soon. Thanks again!

Tamie

I have already corresponded with someone from Dropbox, and they were not able to offer an explanation. But you are welcome to try again, Jane. I'd love to figure this out.

lisaw123

Hi guys,

I found my file. Here's how I figured it out:
The file I worked on was opened in a dropbox folder on my laptop.
The "save" icon in Word actually saved the changes to "One Drive" instead of the dropbox file.
So when I opened the file in dropbox, no edits were shown.
When I use the "open" function in Word to look for recent files, it shows the saved file in "One drive". From there I was able to retrieve the file I want with my edits made today.
Basically "One Dive" is stealing control over dropbox files (and from my friend's experience even files locally saved in other destinations)
I hope this info helps you and your tech department.

Best,

Lisa