How to Recover Unsaved Word Document- Losing a document you were writing and not being able to get it back is the worst thing that can happen. If you use Word documents often, you probably know how frustrating it can be to lose your work in the middle of a project. Even if the program is set to automatically save, things can go wrong and leave you with an empty Word file. Or, the power could go out, which would cause Word to crash.
It IS possible to get back a Word document that wasn’t saved. No matter if you’re on a Mac, using Word 2019, Word 2016, Word 2013, or something else. Also, if you delete a Word document by accident, you can get it back from the Recycle Bin or with the help of a program that recovers lost data.
Recover Unsaved Word Document on Windows
AutoRecover feature
- Open Word.
- Look for a pop-up window labeled “Document Recovery.” If you see your unsaved document listed, select it.
- Click “Open” to recover the document.
Search for temporary files
- Press the Windows key + R to open the Run dialog box.
- Type “%temp%” (without quotes) and press Enter. This will open the temporary files folder.
- Look for files that start with “WRL” or “ASD” and have a .doc or .docx extension. These are temporary Word files.
- Double-click each file to open it in Word and check if it’s the document you were working on.
- If you find the unsaved document, save it immediately to avoid losing it again.
File Recovery software
- Download and install a file recovery tool of your choice (make sure to download from a reputable source).
- Launch the software and select the location where the Word document was originally saved (e.g., your Documents folder or desktop).
- Start the scanning process and wait for the software to search for recoverable files.
- Once the scan is complete, look for Word documents in the list of recoverable files.
- Select the unsaved document and choose a safe location to save the recovered file.
Recover Unsaved Word Document on Mac
Time Machine Backup
- Connect your Time Machine backup drive to your Mac.
- Open the folder where your Word documents are stored.
- Click on the Time Machine icon in the menu bar and select “Enter Time Machine.”
- Navigate to a time before the document was lost using the timeline on the right side of the screen. Locate the unsaved document in the Time Machine backup and select it.
- Click on the “Restore” button to retrieve the document.
FAQs
On the Word menu, click Preferences. Make sure that the Confirm file format conversion at Open check box is selected, and then close the General dialog box. Click File, Open. On the Open menu towards the bottom right select Recover Text.
When you close a document normally, then there will be no AutoRecover file because Word erases AutoRecover files when a document is successfully saved. AutoRecover and AutoSave are never both on at the same time.
On your Mac, open the document, then choose File > Revert To > Browse All Versions. Click tick marks along the timeline to browse versions. Display the version you want, then do one of the following: Restore your document to this version: Click Restore.
