Summary: Can’t access or find your Word file on your system? No Worries! In this blog, we’ll walk you through some quick and easy ways to recover unsaved Word documents.
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“I was typing at lightning speed and I must have hit some key mistakenly. After which, a little window popped up and then disappeared, and the whole document closed. So now the document is nowhere to be found. Is there anything I can do to get my file back? It has all my notes and I have no idea where it could have gone.”
There are many scenarios, similar to the above, where Windows users have reported losing their Word documents. Whether your system gets shut down while working on the Word file or the Word program suddenly crashes due to any reason, you may end up losing your file. But, fortunately, there are ways that can help you recover unsaved Word documents in a few minutes. So let’s jump on the below-given methods without further ado!
Here, we’ve shared some DIY methods to recover unsaved Word documents. Let’s start with the basics.
First of all, try searching for the document on your Windows system with the following steps:
If you’ve enabled the ‘Backup copy’ option in Word, there are chances that you may find a backup copy of your file. The Word backup file names carry a .wbk extension.
You need to first check if this option is previously selected. To do so, follow the given steps:
If the backup copy option is already selected, you can follow the given steps:
If you accidentally deleted the Word file, you can check the Recycle Bin. Follow the given steps:
If your Word opens a document from your system or network shared folder, the AutoRecover option saves the changes. This feature automatically saves the information being created in a Word document at the interval of 10 minutes. You can recover unsaved Word file using the AutoRecover feature.
Usually, Word automatically gives you the option to save the auto-saved (.asd) copy of the crashed or unsaved file whenever you open another Word document. But first, check if you’ve kept this option ON with the following steps:
If this option is selected, restore the Word file from Document Recovery Pane. Follow the given steps:
Generally, Word locates the AutoRecover files every time it starts and shows in the Document Recovery pane, as discussed above. However, if you can’t find the file there, search for it using the ‘Recover Unsaved Document’ feature. Here are the steps:
| Note: You can also directly use the ‘Recover Unsaved Document’ feature by selecting File > Info > Manage Document > Recover Unsaved Documents. |
Once done, check if you can access the file successfully.
If you’ve lost the Word document due to deletion, drive formatting or corruption, and there is no backup available, you can use a Word file recovery software, such as Stellar Data Recovery for Windows. It is an easy-to-use yet powerful file recovery tool that supports recovery from Windows and external storage devices, such as HDDs, SSDs, USB drives, SD cards, and more. It can recover data from BitLocker-encrypted drive partitions. You can follow the given steps to recover lost or deleted Word files:
| Note: Always choose a different drive partition or an external storage media to save the recovered files to prevent data overwriting. |
If you end up losing your important unsaved Word documents, the DIY methods shared in this blog can help you get back your documents easily. Moreover, in case you lost access to your Word files due to deletion, drive formatting, corruption, malware attack, or system errors, you can use data recovery software.
The AutoRecover feature saves the files in the AppData folder. You can follow the given paths to search for unsaved Word documents:
2. How long are AutoRecover files kept?
The AutoRecover feature of Microsoft Word 2013 and later versions save the document every 10 minutes by default. However, to be on the safe side, make it a habit of saving the document now and then.
3. Where the deleted files are found in Windows 10?
If you accidentally deleted a file using the Delete key or Delete option, the file will reach Recycle Bin. You can locate the files there. Right-click the file and click Restore to save the files if the file is there.
4. Can I recover the permanently deleted Word file in Windows 10?
Yes. You can recover permanently deleted Word files using either backup or a powerful data recovery tool, such as Stellar Data Recovery for Windows. It is a DIY tool that can recover files lost due to deletion, formatting, corruption, or even malware attack.
Mansi Verma is a Technology Writer at Stellar®. She is a Tech enthusiast, holding over 7 years of experience in Data Recovery, IoT, Artificial Intelligence, and the Robotics technology domain. She loves researching and providing DIY solutions and tips & tricks to solve Windows technical issues. In her spare time, she likes reading novels, and poetry. She also enjoys traveling and trekking.
I have used Stellar Data Recovery software to recover my deleted word document and It is an easy-to-use yet powerful file recovery tool that supports recovery from Windows and external storage devices, such as HDDs, SSDs, USB drives, SD cards, and more. It can recover data from BitLocker-encrypted drive partitions as well. Very effective and nice tool .