Windows 10: Saved Excel file COMPLETELY gone from computer, but appears in recent files?

So I have a spreadsheet that I need for my work, and which represents a significant amount of work which I saved and deposited in my SD drive, same as I always do. I try to reopen it today by clicking on the recent files option in Excel and get the error message "Sorry, we couldn't find <file name>. Is it possible it was removed, renamed or deleted?" I do all the standard 'search for unsaved files' malarkey, even though it's obviously been saved because the file link is there in my recent files.

Ok, fine, maybe it got accidentally moved, so I do a search over my entire computer, both the SD and the internal drives. The only traces are in the form of shortcuts in the Appdata/Roaming folders, none of which actually lead to the file.

Ok fine, maybe it got accidentally deleted, it happens, so I boot up TestDisk to look for the file in every conceivable folder it could be in. Not a trace.

Ok fine, renamed then? I look at all the files in every possible folder, sorted by the date modified in case it's been saved under another name. Nothing.

What in the holy hell gives? Being semi-familiar with computers I know that it's not super easy to just delete a file off of an SD drive. It should still be findable with a recovery tool like TestDisk. The only possible solution I can see is that I performed a system cleanup using the standard windows tool last night, but nothing was open and the system cleanup shouldn't touch my SD card, right?

Can someone help me with this? I've tried every solution I can think of and I'm coming up empty.

submitted by /u/Skalette
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:)

 

Recent File List

Remove-ItemProperty -Path "Registry::HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion
\Applets\Paint\Recent File List" -name file1

Remove-ItemProperty -Path "Registry::HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion
\Applets\Paint\Recent File List" -name file2
Remove-ItemProperty -Path "Registry::HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion
\Applets\Paint\Recent File List" -name file3
Remove-ItemProperty -Path "Registry::HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion
\Applets\Paint\Recent File List" -name file4
Remove-ItemProperty -Path "Registry::HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion
\Applets\Paint\Recent File List" -name file5
Remove-ItemProperty -Path "Registry::HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion
\Applets\Paint\Recent File List" -name file6
Remove-ItemProperty -Path "Registry::HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion
\Applets\Paint\Recent File List" -name file7
Remove-ItemProperty -Path "Registry::HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion
\Applets\Paint\Recent File List" -name file8
Remove-ItemProperty -Path "Registry::HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion
\Applets\Paint\Recent File List" -name file9
...

you get the idea. ( too lazy to put it in a for loop and test it.

or just open regedit and remove all the fileX from that key.

 

Cannot save an excel file to any location on C:

It sounds like you have Ransomware Protection turned on in Windows Security. You can check to see if it has recently blocked your Excel. See Option One in this tutorial, at Step 5 click 'Recently blocked apps'. If Excel appears there, add it to the list of allowed apps.

Add or Remove Allowed Apps for Controlled Folder Access in Windows 10

 

Recent File List

that's all off already dude lol, I'm really surprised there is no fix for the recent files list/MRU in the file menu of programs haha

I appreciate the help, MS really needs to implement a Group Policy or a string that can do that for all programs installed