Hi Alan,
I always at least try to delete so that things do not go into
the Recyle bin, so I might not even think to look there, but
that is the first place to look per Chip's suggestion.

It is important to maintain backup files
Backup, backup, backup, always backup your files
http://www.mvps.org/dmcritchie/excel/backup.htm

There are programs that may be able restore a deleted file, some
are free, some are not. When you delete a file you can't really
expect much, at least act surprised if you actually do retrieve your file.
I have retrieved one deleted file on my HD and I was surprised.
though you would have better results if you deleted
from a dedicated device that you have not written to since.
Like I have retrieved many files off of CompactFlash card (camera) which is
not surprising because nothing was done to it after accidentally deleting,
there are no files created (no temporary, no permanent files). Not that
simple on a hard drive.
Related Information -- File Recovery (#relFileRecovery)
http://www.mvps.org/dmcritchie/excel...elFileRecovery
particularly the links to LockerGnome. Used to be that recovery of
NTFS files was difficult to get free recovery, but I think those are
covered as well. FAT is the easiest to recover.

--
---
HTH,
David McRitchie, Microsoft MVP - Excel [site changed Nov. 2001]
My Excel Pages: http://www.mvps.org/dmcritchie/excel/excel.htm
Search Page: http://www.mvps.org/dmcritchie/excel/search.htm

"Chip Pearson" wrote in message ...
Have you emptied the Recycle Bin? If not, you'll find your
document there. Double-click on the Recycle Bin to open it. If
you see your document there, right-click it and choose Restore.
It will be moved back to its original location.

"Alan" wrote in message
...
Hello All,

My wifeand I are seniors and we unfortunately deleted a very
important Excel
document, a spreadsheet.

We have found software programs that will restore the document,
but cannot
afford the $50 for just the one document.

Is there an easier and less expensive way to retrieve this
document?

Please help!

Loretta and Alan