Data Recovery

[Chip]

I have a calc spreadsheet that I save as a .xls file. I have been inputting data for 3 years. Today the file would not accept data inputs, but would scroll up and down. I hit the save icon and the file saved. The software then crashed and closed. When I reopened the software it recovered my file, but nearly all of the data is missing. The file was over 7,000 lines long. It still has a few cells with % characters in it after line 7,000. But the only good data is the first several hundred lines. Otherwise all the data is missing. I tried using ExcelFix and it only brings up the saved file with all of the missing data. Is there anyway I can recover the missing data or is it lost forever. I was using this spreadsheet everyday and last saved it 8/2/19. This loss occurred 8/3/19.
In the past when OpenOffice crashed it was always able to recover the file. This time it did not. Is this because I hit save when the software was crashing?

[RusselB]

Welcome to the forums.
It is likely that the file is unrecoverable due to the timing between your save attempt and when Calc crashed.
The .xls format is not a recommended format, and most, if not all, recent versions of spreadsheet can work with the Open Document Formats. (.ods extension for spreadsheets)
You might be able to recover a previous version of your file by going to the file in Windows Explorer, right clicking on the file and selecting Restore Previous Versions... This is part of Windows 7.
If that doesn't work, then you could try using Recuva
It is strongly recommended that you do this asap, as the more your system is used, the more likely that the recoverable data will be lost.

On a side note, I'm going to suggest your read this tutorial to get an idea as to the differences in how the .xls file is stored compared to how the .ods file is stored.
While the actual tutorial is based on a comparison between Writer (.odt) and Word (.doc), most of the information in the comparisons applies to the differences between the .ods and .xls formats.

[Chip]

RusselB,
Thank you for your suggestions. I tried both to no avail. Unfortunately, the data seems lost. Does anyone know if this file or its data could be saved under the users appdata file under another name?

[RusselB]

If Recuva doesn't find it, then it's not, easily, recoverable on that hard drive.
There are companies that specialize in data recovery, but they charge a lot.
Last time I enquired it was $1,000 deposit.

[RoryOF]

If recuva recovers a file of about the correct date/time, then it may be worth renaming such file from any arbitrary file extension to the correct one for your application (.xls) and trying to open it.

[John_Ha]

See [Tutorial] How to find and un-delete AOO temporary files for detailed instructions on how to

a) use Previous Versions (W7 and later) to recover previous versions of the file (is there something similar on MacOS and Linux?);

b) recover your file as it was when you last opened or saved it, or as it was when it was last saved with AutoRecovery;

c) find previous versions of the file in the folder it is located in, but which have since been deleted;

d) un-delete the temporary files AOO wrote while you were editing the file, and then deleted. This will recover your file as it was when you last opened or you last saved it.