This post will introduce fixes to recover data when the 'Browse Version History' is greyed out on your Mac. The most effective way to recover data when the 'Browse Version History' is grayed out is using EaseUS data recovery software.
Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint allow users to recover previous versions by clicking the "Browse Veison History" button on a Mac. However, this useful feature isn't enabled by default. Browse Version History is grayed out on Mac when it's turned off. In this article, we will discuss the reasons why Browse Version History is grayed out on a Mac, and provide 3 effective methods to recover your data when the "Browse Verison History" button is grayed out.
According to this Microsoft Support Official site, the "Browse Version History" option is grayed out on your Mac when the files are stored locally and only available when you use the OneDrive backup solution or stored in the cloud. Therefore, if the "Browse Version History" is grayed out on your Mac, check if you open the OneDrive backup in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
You can enable Browse Version History in Excel, Word, PowerPoint, etc., to recover your documents' previous versions at a certain time point. Here's how to enable the "Browse Version History" option on a Mac:
Step 1. Launch Microsft PowerPoint (or Word/Excel) on your Mac, and open a document.
Step 2. Click "Save > Save As" after editing the document.
Step 3. Select "OneDrive" or "SharePoint" as the location. If the dialog box doesn't show an online service, click "Online Locations".
The "Browse Version History" option grayout may cause data loss on your editing documents. Here are 3 fixes to recover your unsaved or previous versions of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files:
When the "Browse Verison History" button is grayed out on your Mac, it means you can't recover the previous version of PowerPoint or other files by clicking the "Browse Verison History" button. In this case, you can install trusted data recovery software to retrieve your data.
EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac supports almost all types of file recovery under different situations, including getting previous versions of your documents back. The EaseUS data recovery tool can:
Install the EaseUS file recovery software on your Mac, and follow the steps below to recover previous version documents:
Step 1. Select the disk
Launch EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac, hover the mouse over the device where you lost an unsaved file, and click "Search for lost files".
Step 2. Choose unsaved documents
After the scan, click "Type", and expand "Unsaved Documents". Click the exact file type - Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Keynote, Pages, or Numbers you lost without saving.
Step 3. Preview and recover unsaved files
Double-click to preview your unsaved file, select the right version and click "Recover" to save the file to another secure location on Mac.
Share this post on SNS to help more people get their lost documents back if you think these fixes help.
Restoring your data from Time Machine backups is one of the effective fixes. Here's how to access Time Machine backups and restore your previous documents:
Step 1. Navigate to the "Apple menu > System Settings > General > Time Machine".
Step 2. Choose the Time Machine icon in the menu bar and select "Browse Time Machine Backups" from the drop-down option.
Step 3. Choose a Time Machine backup that stores the previous versions of documents you need. Click "Restore" to get them back.
The AutoRecovery feature realizes background file backup by automatically saving files at set intervals. By default, the AutoRecovery feature in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint saves a document every 10 minutes. However, you can set how frequently your AutoRecovery documents are saved in the background to avoid data loss due to sudden shutdown.
Here are the locations of the AutoRecovered files, check if the data you want to recover is stored in the path below:
This post discusses the reasons why Browse Version History is grayed out on a Mac and provides 3 effective methods to recover your data when the "Browse Verison History" button is grayed out: EaseUS Mac data recovery software, Time Machine backups, and AutoRecovery folders.
Here are questions people frequently ask when they facing the problem: the "Browse Version History" option is grayed out. Take a look.
1. How to enable the browse version history in Excel Mac?
If you're using Microsoft 365 for Mac, select the document's name in the application's title bar, then select "Browse Version History". If you're using an older version of Office for Mac, select "File > Browse Version History".
2. Why is history greyed out in Word?
The common reasons for the "Browse Version History" option being greyed out are: The document was not unsaved; it was saved and overwritten with a new revision.
3. How to see version history in Word Mac?
On your Mac, open the Word document, then choose "File > Revert To > Browse All Versions" to see the version history of your document.
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