Lost Access to Excel File

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Level 1

16 points

Lost Access to Excel File

I have spent over 15hrs developing an Excel workbook on my Windows PC. I noticed today that it had not yet synced to iCloud. So, I thought I would force it by choosing "Free up space" so it would only be in iCloud. Ever since I did that I am unable to access the file and it still does not appear in iCloud. I have tried everything I know of. Rebooted. Shut down iCloud from Task menu. Tried to access on PC w/o iCloud running, etc. I just created a new test file and it is also not syncing. The issue seems to be with files originating in Windows. I have not yet experienced an issue with files originating on Mac. ICloud version is 14.1. Windows version is 11.

This is extremely frustrating and I really do not want to have to re-do 15hrs of work.

Windows

Posted on Jun 12, 2023 5:35 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

mingoslkd

Community Specialist

Jun 15, 2023 11:02 AM in response to Tdbozarth

Hi Tdbozarth,

If the file did sync to iCloud, you may be able to view on the iCloud website in the iCloud Drive app, or possibly recover the file, as shown here:

Recover deleted files on iCloud.com - Apple Support

Otherwise, we'd advise to contact Microsoft to see if there is a way to view a previous version of an Excel file.

How to contact an app developer - Apple Support

Take care!

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Answer 2

ShannonM1

Community Specialist

Jun 15, 2023 10:29 AM in response to Tdbozarth

Hello Tdbozarth,

When using iCloud for Windows, do you specifically have iCloud Drive enabled? This is necessary for syncing documents and is described at What is iCloud for Windows? - Apple Support. Do any other files appear besides the Excel ones, or are multiple file types impacted?

Please let us know and we'll go from there!

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Answer 3

mingoslkd

Community Specialist

Jun 15, 2023 11:42 AM in response to Tdbozarth

Hey Tdbozarth,

We did find some additional information which will hopefully help you out.

Keep iCloud Drive files downloaded on your Windows computer - Apple Support

With iCloud for Windows, you can choose which iCloud Drive files are downloaded to your computer. You must download a file before you can open it.

You can pin individual files or folders or your entire iCloud Drive folder to keep them downloaded to your device. If a file or folder is pinned, you see next to the filename in File Explorer. See a list of icons and what they mean.

Sign out of or uninstall iCloud for Windows - Apple Support

Sign out of iCloud for Windows

When you sign out of iCloud for Windows, the information you store in iCloud is removed from your PC. You can still access it on your other devices and on iCloud.com. See Where else can you access the data you store in iCloud?

1. On your Windows computer, open iCloud for Windows.

2. Click “Sign out,” then follow the onscreen instructions.

3. If you decide you want to access information stored in iCloud on your PC, you can sign in again.

We hope those pages from the iCloud User Guide are helpful.

All the best.

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Answer 4

Tdbozarth Author

Level 1

16 points

Jun 15, 2023 10:49 AM in response to ShannonM1

I have all my files on iCloud so yes it is turned on. It had stopped synching and I lost the file mentioned above. I had to sign out and back in - which deleted all the files from PC. It works again but still lost 15hrs of work. And as an extra gift - I have no idea if there were other files I updated on the PC that never synched back to iCloud because if so, that work was also lost.

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Answer 5

Tdbozarth Author

Level 1

16 points

Jun 15, 2023 11:28 AM in response to mingoslkd

Thanks but the more important issue is - how does this even happen in the first place? That my files could even be at risk from using iCloud from a PC is the issue. And when someone has to log out and back in like I did - why would it not show a list of files not synced so a user could save those and not lose data?

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Answer 6

Tdbozarth Author

Level 1

16 points

Jun 15, 2023 12:23 PM in response to mingoslkd

I now have another file on my PC that is hanging in Sync Pending status. Like the other one the status never changes. Yesterday I made changes to file and it synced immediately with no issues. Today it is not syncing. This is maddening and getting me closer to just going to straight PC use.

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Answer 7

Tdbozarth Author

Level 1

16 points

Jun 15, 2023 11:47 AM in response to mingoslkd

As noted previously above - how could this issue even happen. I am less concerned about my lost 15hrs and more concerned about more lost time. Scan back and please reply to prior post.

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Lost Access to Excel File

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