How To View Xls Files On Mac

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How To View Xls Files On Mac Os
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Summary: Files are not showing in external hard drive? Can't see files in external hard drive? If you are also having such type of questions, then check the solutions in this post and get missing files back.

External hard drives are portable storage devices that can be attached to a computer through a USB cable or wireless connection. It typically comes in various storage capacities, letting you transfer massive files between computers, expand the capacity of your computer and back up essential data easily.

This procedure works with.xlsx and.xls file formats. You can also import.csv and tab-delimited files. Launch Numbers (it’s in the Applications folder of your Mac). In the window that automatically.

Double-click to Open Files The basic way to open a file on the Mac — and on Windows as well — is to double-click a file. By default, it opens with the application that is assigned to work with its file type; so, if you have Microsoft Office on your Mac, a.doc file opens in Word, and an.xls file opens in Excel.
Apple's word processor is called Pages and comes with the Mac, but you must purchase iWork to use it. IWork also includes Numbers, which is Apple's equivalent of Excel, and Keynote, which is comparable to PowerPoint. IWork applications allow you to export your documents to Windows format and open Windows formatted files, such as Word documents.
View and edit.xlsx,.xls,.csv,.tsv,.ods,.sxc files online, for free. View any Microsoft Excel or OpenOffice Calc file via Zoho Sheet.

While enjoying the advantages of portable hard drives, you may encounter troubles they make. Sometimes, when you open an external hard drive, you find some important files disappeared, or even worse, the external hard drive is empty. In this comprehensive guide, you will learn about why you can't see files in an external hard drive and how to access the disappeared files in external hard drive on Mac.

Real-life Case: I Can't See the Files on My External Hard Drive

If you can't see files on your external hard drive, including Seagate external hard drives and WD external hard drives, don't be panic. You are not the only one. Quite a lot of Mac users have complaint in forums that they encountered this issue:

I am trying to use my external hard drive I have had for a couple years to back up some files on my computer, but the data I had stored on there already have disappeared. I know the data I already had on there is still on the hard drive because nearly half of the space on the drive is used up. Is there any way I can find and access the old files again?

Why do files suddenly disappear in external hard drive? How to fix this issue and recover disappeared files in the external hard drive? Please move forward.

Why do files suddenly disappear in external hard drive?

There are the most common reasons why the files are disappeared in external hard drive on Mac:

Accidental deletion

Sometimes, the files are accidentally deleted but you don't even notice that.

The files or folders are hidden by the system

In some cases, files are hidden by the operating system, so you can't see them on the external hard drive. It could be that you accidentally hide files, and the system also hides sensitive files by default to keep things simple.

File system error

Files are not showing in an external hard drive because the disk's file system is corrupted. As a result, the computer system fails to access the entries to your files or show these files.

Virus attack

Your external hard drive might be infected by a virus or attacked by malware that hides, deletes or encrypts the files on the drive.

In addition to the four common causes, there are other reasons that may lead to files not showing in external hard drives issue. Don't worry. All such issues can be resolved and files can be easily recovered. Let's dive right into how to fix this problem.

Solutions to access files in external hard drive on Mac

Faced with such a situation, most users behave like ants on hot bricks. First of all, take a deep breath and calm down. As you can't identify what the specific reason is, please try the solutions one by one to fix files disappeared from external hard drive on Mac.

Make sure your external hard drive is mounted in Disk Utility
Check the Mac Trash
Show hidden files in external hard drive
Repair the External Hard Drive with First Aid
Fix the Corrupted External Hard Drive by Reformatting

Solution 1: Make sure your external hard drive is mounted in Disk Utility

Only when your external hard drive is mounted in Disk Utility that you can access files on the drive on Mac. So, if you can't see files on your external hard drive, you should at first check whether the external hard drive is showing up in Disk Utility and mounted.

1. Go to Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility.
2. If the drive is visible in the sidebar, click the Mount button on the top of the window to mount this drive. Alternatively, you can also click the Mount option beside the drive.

Hopefully, you can see all files on the external hard drive in Finder and on the desktop now.

Solution 2: Check the Mac Trash

The first step is to check if the file is still in the Trash in case you've accidentally deleted it. Click on the Trash icon in the Dock and inspect the Finder window that opens. If you see the file, drag it out of the Trash, or right-click the file and choose Put Back.

Solution 3: Show hidden files in external hard drive

If you can't see any file you want in the Trash bin, your files on the external hard drive might be hidden by the operating system. Let's see how to show hidden files on Mac:

Option 1: Use a keyboard shortcut

1. From the Finder of Mac OS, navigate to any folder where there might be hidden files.
2. Now press Command + Shift + Period to instantly toggle to show hidden files.

Option 2: Run command lines

1. Open the Terminal application from Launchpad.
2. Copy and paste the following command into the Terminal window, then press Enter.
3. Copy and paste the following command into the Terminal window and press Enter.

Note that this command causes the Finder to quit and restart. When the Finder reappears, you will see hidden files if any exist.

Don't know how to show hidden files on Mac computers? Just read this page and find the hidden files on Mac computers quickly. Read more >>

Solution 4: Repair the External Hard Drive with First Aid

After following steps aforementioned to show hidden files, if you are still unable to see files on your external hard drive, this issue may result from file system errors. Fortunately, macOS has a built-in tool, First Aid, that can check and repair file system errors. Here are steps to run it:

1. Go to Utilities, find Disk Utility and run this program.
2. Click Show all devices in View option and select this external hard drive in the left sidebar.
3. Click First Aid on the top menu of Disk Utility.
4. Click Run to check and repair errors in this drive.

If you receive a report that First Aid process has failed, and it's asking you to back up your data as much as possible, that means your external hard drive may be seriously corrupted. In this case, reformatting the disk is your last resort.

Solution 5: Fix the Corrupted External Hard Drive by Reformatting

Reformatting will refresh the file system which is a quite efficient way to fix any file system error. This process is very simple and shouldn't take more than a minute to complete.

• Tutorial to reformat external hard drive on Mac

Note: Keep in mind that the reformatting process will erase all data stored on the drive. So please make sure you have backed up your important files. Don't have any file copy at other places? You should move to the next part to recover lost data from the external hard drive before reformatting.

When the erase process completes, you will get an empty external hard drive. Then move your backup files back to the drive and you will find everything works great.

How to Recover Disappeared Files from an External Hard Drive?

Want to reformat your external hard drive but haven't backed up your important data yet? Or none of the solutions above worked for you? This is where a data recovery tool comes into handy.

As free and professional Mac data recovery software, iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac is highly recommended. It can thoroughly scan your external hard drive and quickly recover files disappeared from an external hard drive, no matter what the reason you lose data, such as accidental deletion, virus attack, or files hidden by system.

This reliable tool can support 1000+ file types, including pictures, documents, videos, audio files, and more. In addition to external hard drive data recovery, iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac is also designed to recover lost data from internal hard drives, USB flash drives, SD cards, memory cards, and other storage devices on macOS Big Sur 11/10.15 and earlier.

Through only 4 steps, you can recover lost or missing files from external hard drives on Mac.

1. Download, install and launch iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac.
The software is very light-weight in just 7.7 MB, with a collection of features built in. After a quick download, you double-click the DMG file to open it. Follow the instructions to drag the application to the Application folder. Delete the downloaded file once you're done.
2. Connect the external hard drive that is not showing files to your Mac.
3. Select the external hard drive, then click Scan to start scanning for lost files.
You need to wait for the scan to finish. If you have a large number of files, this could be quite a while. The software will give a real-time list of discovered files. During the scanning process, you can pause the scan at any time by clicking the Stop/Pause button at the left hand. Click the button again to resume the scanning.
iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac delivers a powerful session management feature that allows you to save and resume a scan anytime. With this helpful feature, you can easily pause if you have to step away or turn off your computer. Then you can perform your recovery later without needing to rescan the disk.
4. Preview the scanning results, choose files you want to recover, and then click Recover.

After finishing the scanning process, you can filter the results as needed by filename keyword, file type, file size, and date. iBoysoft Data Recovery is built with a strong preview feature that enables you to preview images, documents, music files, videos, etc. With this handy feature, you can ensure the file is exactly you are looking for and its content is recoverable.

Besides, iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac can recover deleted files even emptied from the Mac Trash, recover lost data from formatted, unreadable, unmountable, inaccessible drives. Even when your Mac won't boot, it can help you regain access to your computer data.

Bottom Lines

It's bothering if you can't see files in external hard drive due to various reasons. In this article, we mainly focus on the most possible reasons that caused this problem, such as accidental deletion and file system errors. More importantly, we hope you can find useful solutions to fix files not showing in external hard drive issue.

Fail to fix this issue with the solutions above? iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac might be a lifesaver to get missing/hidden files back. It can recover lost data from any storage volume attached to your Mac, regardless of what file system the disk has.

But even so, it's still important to do regular backups to prevent the loss of data. Start to back up today!

Oct 16, 2020 • Filed to: Solve Mac Problems • Proven solutions

Accidentally deleting or losing a file or more on Mac is something that every user goes through at least once. While most other files can be recreated or recovered easily, the same cannot be said for Excel files. Even the smallest of problems or issues with an Excel file can lead to a significant loss of data, and depending on how you use it- even hours of work that it took for creating that file.

To help Excel users solve the data loss issue, this article shows how to retrieve deleted Excel documents and how to recover unsaved Excel files in some easy ways. Now, read on and get the solution for Excel file recovery on Mac.

Part 1. Overview of Excel Files

An Excel file, most commonly found with the extension '.xlsx', is spreadsheet software that comes with a host of calculation capabilities, pivot tables, graphing tools as well as macro-programming. Excel files are in fact, the industry standard for spreadsheets and used globally for a host of purposes. Every Excel file can hold a vast amount of data, and results of various operations performed on it.

Why Your Mac Excel Files Go Lost

Then, you might be curious about some situations that may lead to the loss of Excel files on your Mac.

Accidental deletion is the most common cause.
Formatted hard drive partitions - When you format the hard drive or a particular partition, then you will lose all Excel files as well as anything else that is there in it. This can cause loss of data in case you did not have any backup. Improper repartitioning is one of the most common causes of lost data.
Virus/malware attack - This is amongst the biggest menaces that lead to loss of significant data. Any malware or virus that inflicts your hard drive will delete your files. While formatting the hard drive is an easy way to get rid of the virus, it gets rid of your files as well!
Other reasons, including power failure, system crash, computer shutdown, human improper handling, and so on.

So what happens when you lose your Excel files? Is there no way to get them back if you did not have any backup of the same? This is exactly where you need an Excel file recovery software to help you recover deleted or lost Excel files on Mac.

Part 2. Free Download the Excel File Recovery Software

The first thing that you can do to recover deleted or lost Excel files on Mac is to check the Trash Bin. If you have not emptied this yet, then your files will be there. However, if you used the 'Command +Delete' or 'Command+Option+Delete' method, the files will not be in the Trash Bin. You will need a third-party utility to help you recover Excel files on Mac.

A simple search may lead you to various Excel file recovery software - but not all will offer you the kind of performance and results that Recoverit for Mac will. If you are looking for a trusted, easy-to-use, and effective solution to recover deleted Excel files on Mac, then Recoverit Data Recovery for Macc is what you need.

Using the Excel file recovery software, you're able to restore Excel files regardless of the data loss situations, especially the accidental deletion or permanent loss. Moreover, it supports a variety of filesystems on Windows or Mac computer, like APFS, HFS+, HFSX, FAT16, FAT32, exFAT, and NTFS file systems.

Features of Recoverit Mac Excel Recovery:

Before you begin using Recoverit for Mac, knowing what features it offers will help you be more confident in your choice of Excel file recovery software. A roundup of what all it offers is given here.

Retrieve Excel files on Mac due to format, deletion, and inaccessibility.
Recover various file types like documents, videos, images, archives, songs, etc
Only read and recover data, no leaking, modifying, or things like that, 100% safe.
Allows you to rescue data from Macbook, iPod, Mac desktop, USB drives, digital cameras, mobile phones, and other storage media.

Video Tutorial on Excel File Recovery

Recoverit Excel Recovery can help you recover Excel files on Windows (Windows 10/8/7/Vista/XP) and Mac computers.

Part 3. How to Recover Excel Files Deleted or Lost on Mac

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As mentioned earlier, Recoverit Mac Data Recovery is all about simplicity and effectiveness. Using this powerful data recovery tool is just a matter of 3 simple steps as detailed ahead.

Step 1. Select the source drive for lost files

To recover the deleted Excel file on Mac, you need to select the Mac logical drive where the deleted or Excel files were stored. If any particular partition or drive is not there in the list, refresh the list.

Step 2. Scanning the selected hard drive

An all-around scan will be performed immediately on the selected hard drive to search for the lost or deleted Excel files on Mac. You can pause the scanning process at any time.

Step 3. Preview and recover Excel files

After the scan completes, all the files present in that particular memory that you can recover. Select only those files that you require, and click on the 'Recover' button. It will then prompt you to browse to the path where the files are to be saved most recovery. With this, you will recover deleted Excel files on Mac to the specific location.

Now, after the 3 steps, we believe that all your deleted or lost Excel files are recovered and saved successfully and safely. One thing to point is that please do not save the recovered Excel files on the same location to avoid data overwriting.

Part 4. How to Recover Unsaved Excel File on Mac

Sometimes, the Mac Excel shutdown can happen and cause the loss of unsaved Excel files. When suffering from the situation, you might be eager to know: 'How do I retrieve an unsaved Excel file on a Mac?'. Yes, you can recover unsaved Excel files as you wish. Moreover, there are 3 common ways to help you out.

1. Recover Unsaved Excel Files with Excel AutoSave

Mac Excel (2016 - 2010) features 2 useful and helpful functions, that are AutoSave and AutoRecover, to help you recover Excel files not saved on Mac promptly. AutoSave can automatically save the Excel files you're writing data into. The saving interval is configured by yourself, usually every 5 minutes. AutoRecover can show all the latest autosaved Excel files and allow you to recover unsaved documents.

Step 1 Enable Excel AutoSave and AutoRecover

Before recovering unsaved Excel files with Excel AutoSave and AutoRecover, you need to first enable the two functions. Otherwise, the method doesn't work.

To enable and configure Excel AutoSave, you can go to 'File' > 'Options' > 'Save'.
Then you need to fill the minutes you want to decide how often the Mac Excel AutoSave works.
Check the two boxes 'Save AutoRecover information every X minutes' and 'Keep the last autosaved version if I close without saving'.
Click 'OK' and the Mac Excel will automatically save your Excel files according to your configuration.

Step 2 Recover Unsaved Workbooks on Mac

Now, let's take a look at how to recover unsaved Excel files in this way.

Go to the 'File' tab on the top of the Excel spreadsheet. Click it.
Click 'Open' > 'Recent Workbooks' and scroll down the list.
Select the document version you want and click 'Recover Unsaved Workbooks'.
You can also go to 'File' > 'Info' > 'Manage Workbooks' and select 'Recover Unsaved Workbooks'.

Note The autosaved documents can be easily overwritten, so sometimes, it can't help you out.

2. Recover Unsaved Excel Files from AutoRecovery Folder

You can also get the AutoRecovery Excel files and recover unsaved documents on Mac by entering into the AutoRecovery Folder.

Go to 'Finder' and find the search box.
Type '/Users/username/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Excel/Data/Library/Preferences/AutoRecovery' in the search box.
Press Enter or Return and you can see the AutoRecovery folder.
Find the Excel files you want to recover, select, and save them to another location on Mac.

3. Recover Unsaved Excel Files from Temporary Files

What are Temporary Files? Mac Temp files are created to contain the data while a new Excel document is made. Usually, when the Excel program is closed, the temp files are deleted accordingly. But sometimes, when your Excel is closed abnormally or suddenly, the Mac Temp files can help you recover Excel data not saved on Mac promptly.

Go to 'Applications' > 'Utilities' > 'Terminal'.
Type the command line - 'open $TMPDIR' on Mac Terminal and press 'Return'.
Access the Temporary files folder > 'TemporaryItems' and open the folder.
Select the unsaved Excel files you want and drag them out of the folder.

Excel AutoSave, Excel AutoRecovery, and Excel Temp Files can be powerful options to help you retrieve unsaved Excel files on Windows or Mac computer. But if you want a one-stop solution to recover unsaved, deleted, or lost Excel files, it is Recoverit Data Recovery that offers you the service. It can ever help you with Excel recovery after a computer crash.

Part 5. Tips for Recovering Excel Files on Mac

Now that you know how to recover unsaved, deleted, or lost Excel files on Mac, you might be a bit more relaxed about the data on your Mac. While there are some ways to rescue your data, it will be better if you avoid any such situations from coming up again in the future. Here are a few tips to help you with that:

How To View Xls Files On Mac Os

Avoid using any automated tools for cleanup and for increasing your memory. These delete files without asking for your permission at times and can cause you to lose sensitive data.
If you use the command line for deleting a file(s), then be careful about what you type, as even a single mistake could delete much data here.
Before formatting any partition or disk, be sure of what the implications of it will be. One of the most common causes of lost files and data is improper repartitioning of drives as mentioned above.

To Wrap Up

Thus, with all the above knowledge, getting back your lost Excel files and preventing any further issues in the future should now be an easier task for you! To recover files from the hard drive or external devices, Recoverit Data Recovery can be a nice option. Free download and try it for free now!

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