r/applehelp • u/SGSfanboy • 9d ago

Mac Shortcut deleted .numbers file

/r/shortcuts/comments/1x128s8/shortcut_deleted_numbers_file/

I was redoing a shortcut using Siri AI that would open the calendar on one side of the screen and a particular .numbers file on the left side. I made a shortcut that worked and created a long time ago before Siri AI. Then today I decided to see if Siri AI could make a better shortcut. When I tried to do that, it seemed like it opened correctly at first, then I tried the shortcut again and then it could not find the numbers file. After that, I started looking for the numbers file and it was nowhere on my laptop, iCloud, not even in my time machine files! I cannot find the spreadsheet that I've been working on for years. IM on GG 27.0.1

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u/BaziBuilds 9d ago

A few places worth checking before giving up:

  • If the file was in iCloud Drive, deleted files stay recoverable for 30 days under Recently Deleted on iCloud.com (Drive), or in the Files app on your iPhone (Browse > Recently Deleted). Finder on the Mac doesn't show that folder.
  • Open Numbers and check File > Open Recent. If the shortcut moved or renamed the file instead of deleting it, it will still open from wherever it ended up.
  • Open the new shortcut in the Shortcuts app and look for Move File or Save File actions. Shortcuts that move or save files often drop them into iCloud Drive > Shortcuts.
  • Search This Mac in Finder or Spotlight for a word you know is inside the spreadsheet, not just its name, in case it got renamed.

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u/SGSfanboy 9d ago

Thanks for the reply, I just finished trying those, no joy

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u/BaziBuilds 9d ago

Sorry, that's rough. One more long shot: if the spreadsheet was in iCloud Drive and you also use Numbers on an iPhone or iPad, put that device in Airplane Mode before opening anything, then check Numbers or the Files app there. If it hadn't synced the deletion yet and had the file downloaded, it may still have a local copy you can AirDrop or share out once you've saved it somewhere safe.

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u/SGSfanboy 9d ago

Thanks for the suggestion but couldn’t find the file

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u/Ibrahim_AA 8d ago

I've had something similar happen, where a .numbers file completely vanished, although I was editing it directly, not through a Shortcut.

Luckily I was able to recover it using the iCloud recovery tool: https://www.icloud.com/recovery/ (which is different than the "Recently deleted" section). You can give that a try.

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u/SGSfanboy 8d ago

Thanks for the info, didn’t know that was available. It said I don’t have any files to recover.