I have accidentally deleted a Numbers spreadsheet. Is there any way to recover it? --- ilpchow from Apple Discussion
Now, more and more people use iWork suite to deal with files, due to its simplicity and beauty. And we may run into similar situations mentioned above: accidentally deleted a Numbers document, Numbers Spreadsheet got disappeared, or left a Numbers file unsaved…
Here we list 5 ways to recover a deleted or unsaved Numbers document , these solutions can be used for Numbers file recovery on a Mac, iPad or iPhone.
Recover iWork Numbers, Pages, Keynote Files on Mac
- It can recover unsaved, permanently deleted, formatted and lost files caused by different reasons
- Support restoring 200+ types of file with original quality: video, audio, document, photo...
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- Filter files with keywords, file size, date created, date modified
- Preview files before recovery
- Recover files to local drive or Cloud platforms
- Ease to use
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Best Way to Recover Deleted or Unsaved Numbers Document on Mac
Turning to an expert is always the most efficient way to get your deleted or unsaved Numbers files back.
Cisdem Data Recovery for Mac is a dedicated program to recover all kinds of files from internal or external storage device, such as recover iWork Pages, Numbers, Keynote, videos, photos, audios and other files.
Why Cisdem Data Recovery for Mac?
- Provide professional recovery solutions for data loss under different situations: deletion, format, system crash, virus attack, power off, system update or downgrade, human error, etc.
- Recover files from both Mac internal and external hard drive/storage devices
- Support 200+ file recovery: video, audio, image, document, archive, email, etc.
- Find and retrieve unsaved documents
- Repair damaged videos
- Both quick scan and deep scan to find most files
- Preview files before recovery process
- Recover files to local drive or Cloud for saving space on Mac
Steps to Recover Deleted or Unsaved Numbers Spreadsheet on Mac
- Download and install Cisdem Data Recovery on your mac, then launch it.
Free Download
- Select the location.
Go to Disk Data Recovery, choose the location where you deleted or lost the Numbers file on your Mac.
- Scan deleted or unsaved Numbers file on mac.
Click “Search for lost files” to start finding them out.
To recover unsaved Numbers document, go to Type>Unsaved Documents, find the unsaved Numbers spreadsheet files. If you cannot find the unsaved Numbers file, go to Type>Document>Numbers.
To recover deleted Numbers document on Mac, go to Type>Document>Numbers to find your files, or use the filter to search specific Numbers files quickly.
- Preview and recover Numbers spreadsheet on mac.
Once the scanning finishes, double click on the Numbers file to preview, then click “Recover” button to get the deleted or unsaved Numbers file back.
Easy Free Ways to Recover Deleted Numbers Spreadsheet on Mac, iPad or iPhone
There are additional 2 ways to recover a deleted Numbers file on Mac, iPad or iPhone respectively.
Method 1. Recover Deleted Numbers File from Trash Bin
It is recommended to recover a permanently deleted Numbers file on mac with professional data recovery software, but if your files are not permanently removed from your Mac or iPad/iPhone, you can find them back in Trash bin.
On Mac
As we all know, when we delete a file on mac, the file is just moved to the Trash bin, it is still there on our mac.
- 1. Go to Trash bin.
- 2. Click on the following toolbar to find your Numbers file by name, kind, date or others.

- 3. Right click on the file, choose “Put Back” to recover Numbers file from your Mac Trash bin.

On iPad/iPhone
On iPad or iPhone, there is no Trash bin available for us to store the removed files, but the application---Numbers for iPad itself provides the space to store deleted files for some time.
- 1. Open Numbers file on iPad.
- 2. Tap “Document” and find the “Location list” in the left column.
- 3. Tap “Recently Deleted”.
- 4. Tap “Select” to choose the deleted Numbers file you want to recover, then tap “Recover” to restore the deleted Numbers Spreadsheet on iPad.

Method 2. Recover Deleted Numbers File from iCloud
iCloud is a great program to store all kinds of files, allowing users to access to and manage files across different Apple device. Also, you can recover deleted Numbers file from iCloud both on Mac or iPad/iPhone.
- 1. Login into your iCloud account or go to iCloud website on Mac.
- 2. Go to Settings, then find “Advanced” at the bottom and select “Restore Files”
- 3. Then all the deleted files will be showed, select the deleted Numbers file you want to recover.
- 4. Click “Restore” to recover the deleted Numbers spreadsheet on Mac or iPad.

Easy Free Ways to Recover Unsaved Numbers Document on Mac
Sometime, where we were editing a Numbers file on Mac, the program may be crashed for no reason or Numbers file was closed and left unsaved on mac due to sudden power-off. In this case, we will use 2 ways to recover an unsaved Numbers spreadsheet on mac.
Method 1: Recover Unsaved Numbers Spreadsheet from Mac AutoSave
As you may have heard, MacOS comes with a powerful feature called AutoSave, helping users to auto save the documents under editing. This feature works particularly perfect on saving Apple-proprietary documents, such as Preview files, iWork files, etc., which includes Numbers spreadsheet.
By default, this AutoSave feature is ON, you can go to System Preferences>General, check if the box before “Ask to keep changes when closing documents” is checked or unchecked. If unchecked, the AutoSave feature is ON.
- 1. Find a Numbers document, right click to open with iWork Numbers.
- 2. Then all the Numbers files you left unsaved are opened, choose the one you want to restore, click save to recover the unsaved Numbers document.

- 3. In the case you don’t find the unsaved Numbers file, go to File>Open Recent, then save the file.

Method 2: Recover Unsaved Numbers Spreadsheet from Temporary Folder
If you still cannot find the unsaved Numbers file back, you will need to check if the file is saved in Temporary Folder.
- 1. Go to Finder>Applications>Utilities.
- 2. Run Terminal on your mac.
- 3. Input “open $TMPDIR” in Terminal, then press “Enter”.

- 4. Find the Numbers document you leave unsaved on mac, then open and save the file.
Conclusion
So, as you can see, even though we accidentally delete or lost a Numbers file, there are professional and free data recovery tools to get them back, even it is possible to restore an unsaved Numbers file. But as always, the best way is finding an expert, such as Cisdem Data Recovery.
Connie has been writing for Mac productivity and utility apps since 2009. Each review and solution is based on her practical tests, she is aways energetic and trustworthy in this field.
Echo
I lost one important Numbers spreadsheet from my iPhone. FoneLab recommended here helps me out. Many thanks!