Have you ever deleted a sheet tab and now need to restore it? Well, you’ve come to the right place! In this article, I will show you how to recover your deleted sheets in Google Sheets.
Working on a spreadsheet can be tricky, and sometimes, we accidentally delete a sheet. But don’t worry, Google Sheets has tools to help us rectify most errors that may occur.
If you’ve deleted the wrong sheet and want to know how to restore it, this article is for you. By the end of this article, you’ll learn different approaches to restore a deleted sheet.
Get your copy of the example workbook used in this article and follow along with the guide.
Restore Deleted Sheet Tabs with the Undo Command
For this method, you only need to use the Undo command in Google Sheets to restore the deleted sheet.
You can find the Undo command in the toolbar.
The Undo command is also available in the Edit menu.
But the easiest way to use the Undo method is by using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Z.
Please note that the Undo method will only work if deleting the sheet was the last action performed. If you have done two or more actions after deleting the sheet, this method will not restore the deleted sheet.
📝 Note: The Undo method will only work if deleting the sheet was a recent action. You will need to undo any other actions performed after deleting the sheet to recover the sheet.
Restore Deleted Sheet Tabs with Version History
Version History is a feature in Google Sheets that allows you to access every change made to the spreadsheet file since its creation.
It serves as a cloud backup of all modifications made to the file.
Whether you delete something or add new content, Version History stores all the changes in chronological order.
This means that you not only know what changes were made, but also when and where each change occurred.
You can find the Version History command in the File menu.
In the Version History dropdown menu, select “See Version History.” You can also use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Alt+Shift+H to simplify this process.
The Version History window will open, displaying the current view of your spreadsheet.
On the right side of the window, you will find a list of all the changes made to the sheet since its creation. Each change is grouped by date and time.
Our example spreadsheet initially had two sheets. Currently, the current view in the Version History pane shows only one sheet.
To restore the deleted sheet, select the most recent version of the file in the Version History pane that contains the deleted sheet, then click the “Restore This Version” button that appears at the top of your window when a previous version is selected.
You will be prompted to confirm that you want to set the previous version as the current version of the document. Click the “Restore” button.
Now, the deleted sheet is back in your file.
If you go back to the Version History window, that will be the current version of the file. You will also find an indication that the file has been restored from a previously created version.
Setting a previous version of a file as the current version does not delete or remove the old current version from the file’s version history. It simply replaces the current version of the file, but all other versions remain available if you need to refer back to them in the future.
💡 Tip: You can easily reference older versions of a file by giving them names.
To name a specific version, identify the version you want to name, click the three dots next to it, and select “Name this version.”
When you name versions, it helps you remember a particular version that you might want to restore later.
Conclusion
Deleting a sheet is a common task when organizing your workbook. Unfortunately, you might find that you need the sheet later on.
When you want to recover a deleted sheet, you can use the Undo command if the deletion was a recent action. The Version History feature also allows you to recover a deleted sheet at any time since the file’s creation.
Have you ever needed to restore a deleted sheet tab? Do you know any other ways to recover a deleted sheet? Let me know in the comments section!
Learn more about Google Sheets and other helpful tips at Crawlan.com.
