4 Fixes to Recover an Overwritten File on Mac

This post will introduce effective ways to recover overwritten files on Mac using Mac data recovery software, the browse history versions feature in applications, Time Machine backups, and iCloud.

Have you ever clicked the "Save" button by mistake, so you lost the previous version of the editing file? In this case, the previous version of the saved file will be overwritten, which may cause data loss. As you know, the deleted files on a Mac will be moved to the Mac Trash Bin folder, where you can restore them. But how to recover an overwritten file on Mac?

This post will introduce effective ways to recover overwritten files on Mac using Mac data recovery software, the browse history versions feature in applications, Time Machine backups, and iCloud.

Fix 1. Recover an Overwritten File on Mac Using Software

Using file recovery software is the fastest method to recover overwritten files on your Mac. EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac can help you quickly locate overwritten files with its advanced algorithms, even if no previous version is available on your Mac.

When you accidentally save over a Word document, Excel, or PowerPoint file on your Mac, remember to stop saving any data immediately to avoid further data loss due to overwriting. Download the EaseUS data recovery tool on your Mac and follow the instructions below to recover your overwritten files:

🔔Note: Consider creating a backup by clicking the "Disk Backup" on the left first. If the disk is damaged, or the overwritten document on the disk is accidentally deleted or lost, you can get the data back from the backup image.

This powerful data recovery tool also works in unsaved Word document recovery, overwritten Excel file recovery, deleted data recovery, and more! Share this post on SNS to help more people avoid data loss in the future!

Fix 2. Browse Version History to Recover Overwritten Files

Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint provide a useful feature, Browse Version History, to help users restore the previous versions of their documents. If you turn on this option, it will autosave your editing files for about ten minutes, so you can easily restore the previous version by selecting a certain time point.

Check out the following steps to recover the previous version of Word documents, Excel, or PowerPoint files:

Step 1. Open the overwritten document you want to restore to its previous version.

Step 2. Click "File > Browse Verison History" and choose the right version by the time and date.

But only when you use the OneDrive backup solution or stored in the cloud, the "Browse Version History" option is available. Otherwise, your documents could not be autosaved on your Mac. If the "Browse Version History" is grayed out in your Mac applications, read this post to solve the button unavailable issue.

Fix 3. Restore Overwritten Files on Mac from Time Machine Backups

Restoring from Time Machine backups is an optional method to recover previous data. Here's how to restore overwritten files from Time Machine backups:

Step 1. Navigate to the "Apple menu > System Settings > General > Time Machine" to access Time Machine backups.

Step 2. Choose the Time Machine icon in the menu bar and select "Browse Time Machine Backups" from the drop-down option.

Step 3. Navigate through your Time Machine backups using the arrows and timeline, then pick the overwritten files you wish to restore. Click "Restore" to get them back.

Fix 4. Recover Overwritten Files on Mac via iCloud

You may know the iCloud recovery feature on the iCloud web provides time-limited data recovery for deleted items. However, there's one useful feature of iCloud that's less well-known: iCloud also provides options to see iCloud Drive version history and gives users a chance to recover overwritten files, usually referring to Word documents, Excel, and other iWork files.

Once you choose to save the iWork files on iCloud, you can recover their previous versions by following the steps below:

Step 1. Open the file and click the "File" button in the toolbar.

Step 2. Choose the "Revert To > Browse All Versions" option.

Step 3. All the recoverable versions will display in the "Version History" list, and select the target version you want to restore. Click "Restore" at the bottom of the versions list.

Conclusion

This post introduces 4 effective methods to recover overwritten files on a Mac, including using EaseUS Mac data recovery software, the browse history versions feature in applications, Time Machine backups, and iCloud. It is worth noting that all data recovery methods have a golden time, which means the shorter the file has been overwritten, the higher the probability that the file will be recovered without loss.

Recover an Overwritten File on Mac FAQs

Here are questions people frequently ask when they face the problem of recovering overwritten files on a Mac. Take a look if needed.

1. Can overwritten files be recovered?

You can recover a previous version of an overwritten file using the "Browse Version History" feature (if it has already been enabled), EaseUS software, or Time Machine backups on your Mac.

2. How can I recover a file I accidentally saved over?

Follow the steps to recover a file you accidentally saved over:

Step 1. 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" to locate your overwritten files on the selected disk.

Step 2. After the scan, the overwritten files may be displayed in the "Unsaved Documents" tab. Click "Type" and choose the exact file type - Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Keynote, Pages, or Numbers you want to recover the previous versions.

Step 3. Double-click to preview your overwritten file, select the right version, and click "Recover" to save the file to another secure location on your Mac.