I had been working on a manual journal entry for about an hour but before I was done, I hit refresh and it disappeared! Can I retrieve it?

I'm sad to inform you that we're unable to retrieve a journal entry that was not saved in QuickBooks, @userbhake1961.

I understand that it would take another set of your time, however, our option is to create again the journal entry. 

Here's how:

1. Go to the + New button.
2. Select Journal entry under Other.
3. On the first line, select an account from the Account field and, enter the amount in the correct column.
4. On the next line, choose the other account you're moving money to or from, then enter the same amount in the opposite column.
5. jEnsure to have the same amount in the Credit and Debit column.
6. Enter information in the memo section so you know why you made the journal entry.
7. Once done, click Save and new or Save and close.

Moving forward, I encourage you to save first your created journal entry or any other transactions before refreshing the page. This way, you have the option to retrieve or restore a copy.

Meanwhile, if you'll want to modify your journal entry, feel free to check out this article: Reverse or delete a journal entry in QuickBooks Online.

Feel at ease to comment down below if you have other QuickBooks concerns. I'll look forward to your response. Stay safe always.