instead of pressing save, I deleted. this is URGENT! I can’t even find it in my recycle bin. 12 hours of work GONE!
This doesn’t seem consistent. Where you are prompted to "press ‘Save’ " should be the ‘File’ menu or the ‘Save As…’ dialogue. In both cases you are not offered an option ‘Delete’. If you chose a file from the list in the ‘Save As…’ dialogue there was the possibility to wrongly delete the file or to rename it but not the one under editing. Might inadvertent renaming have occurred? If your problem is actually urgent you should try to put it extremely clear. What were you doing? Step by step!
@Joni, To add to Lupp’s comments, please start by saying what operating system you are on, and what sort of document was it?
… and btw, if it’s only 12 hours of work gone, then this is a small slap on the hand to you, so you can think about making backups in the future as you work. …You can loose much more than this, weeks, months, and even years of work, and the horror stories are out there if you look around. So it’s time to reevaluate your backup procedures I think.
If the file was on the computer before the mistake, you’d be downloading TestDisk (assuming Window$, but TestDisk is available to Linux and Mac too IIRC) to other drive/partition than the one the file was on, then hopefully recover the file also to different disk/partition than where the file was. At this point it might be too late, but doesn’t hurt to try and I’m leaving this here for the future.
To recover your file use Disk Drill for Mac Recover Deleted/Lost Word Documents on Mac [Proven Way] I found this software almost excellent. The software is available for demo download which allows you to preview the recoverable contents and you can check whether the file is recovered correctly or not by double clicking on it.
What kind of file is it? There are different approach for every type of file. If you don’t want to do different steps, you can use a recovery tool like Acethinker Disk Recovery. It’s a simple tool to use and very fast to recover files. Maybe this can help you if your problem has not been fixed yet.
This thread is about 3.75 years old now, and -though asked for additional information- the OQ ( @joni ) never came back to it. (There were 4 answers and some comments.)
Considering the circumstances I would suspect a post by a new user recommending commercial software to be spam.
This does not sound good. I am not sure there is too much you can do other than learn form the experience.
If you have actually deleted it then act as quickly as possible and try not to use the computer until you attempt a recovery with some sort of suitable utility. Do a web search for suitable software. (One I have heard of success with is recuva )
I am not sure what exactly you did LibO Writer file menu does not include a delete option. Windows deletions unless you explicitly use a delete option often go to the Recycle bin.
( I have made the presumption you are using Windows - Mac s & Unix often have Trash icons not Recycle icons )
It is also worth searching the computer for the document in case you mis named it or put it in the wrong location.
If you need tips on how to search look at this and the advanced tips
A different subject, but maybe you should review your backup procedures.
I guess you do not have any regular backup policy for your documents.
If you knew it was going to be 12 hours work you could have used LibO file → save copy option to make a backup every 1/2 hour or so. Another method would have been to set LibO to always make bacup copies, Tools → Options → Load/Save → General [] Always create backup copy
There is a small chance that there is still a back-up file existing. However, this depends on your settings in Options.
You find information of the location of the back-up folder under Tools > Options > LibreOffice > Paths (Mac: LibreOffice > Preference > …)
Have a look into this back-up folder. With a little bit of luck you might find a still existing copy.
Please let me add a personal note, which can help you in the future:
LOSS OF FILES - AVOID THEM
Very often I see questions on how to recover lost files. Better than attempting to recover lost data is prepare against the loss of data. To avoid a loss of a file these are 3 recommendations:
1 - Check the following LibO options: Tools > options > Load/Save > General
---- Save Autorecovery every x mins (the shorter the value the small a possible loss; I use 3 min)
---- Automatically save document too ( I don’t use this, because I regard the autorecovery function as excellent.)
---- Always create a backup copy (download and read the free of charge LibO guide to understand how this works)
2 - When I work more than a day on a file, I create additional daily back ups. I use the format “filename_yymmdd.ext” and I keep at least 1 previous version.
In case the file is extremely important and I work long hours non-stop, I add the actual time behind the date.
3 - Backup the HDD of your computer to an external HDD. External HDD in the range of 2-4 TB cost mostly less than 100 EUR. (I do this almost daily and even backup external HDD onto another one.
When it comes to this topic this expression comes to my mind: “Fail to prepare is prepare to fail!”