1. Microsoft Word Recover Document
2. Microsoft Word Document Recovery Online
3. Microsoft Word Document Recovery Pane
4. Microsoft Word Recover Document Key

© Maskot/Getty Images There are a handful of methods you can try to recover a lost Word document. Maskot/Getty Images

Select Microsoft Word and then click 'Force Quit.' Then, re-open Microsoft Word. On the left side of the screen, you'll see a tab called 'Document Recovery' - look for your missing document in. There is a tiny chance you can recover some of the file. It depends on how much 'unsaved' it is. If it is a new file, with no name yet, chances are very slim. If it is an existing file you were making changes to but hadn't saved them yet, there is a bit more of a chance. Take a look at the tips in these 2 links. There are many ways you can recover it. Use the Document Recovery task pane that will appear if Word crashes. Click to File and Info. Then, under Manage Documents, click the file name. It will recover the document up to the previous autosave point. If a Document Recovery screen does not pop up, you can search for documents manually. Here’s how: Step 1: Open Microsoft Word. Step 2: Under the File Tab, select “Recent”. Step 3: At the bottom of the menu you will see a “Recover Unsaved Documents” tool. This situation will happen over time, but take a deep breath, you can get your unsaved Word document back. Follow the next steps to recover an unsaved Word document by using Microsoft Word (Word 2010, Word 2013, and Word 2016). Recover Unsaved Word Document from Temporary Files.

• You may be able to recover an unsaved Microsoft Word document if the document is closed in some fashion without being saved.
• There are multiple methods for recovering an unsaved Word document, but no one method is guaranteed to work in every situation.
• To prevent losing your work, you can enable auto-saving in Microsoft Word's settings.
• Visit Business Insider's Tech Reference library for more stories.

If you've ever lost all of your work because you didn't save your Microsoft Word document, you understand how palpable the pain can be.

Microsoft Word Recover Document

Fortunately, Word has come a long way since the dark ages of backing up files on floppy disks. Nowadays, if you lose an unsaved Word document, there might still be a way to recover it. The process isn't guaranteed, and you'll likely have to try multiple methods before you find success, but it's better than just giving up.

Here's how to recover an unsaved Word document, as well as enable Word's AutoSave feature to ensure it doesn't happen again.

How to recover an unsaved Word document

As computers and software are complex, there are various ways to recover an unsaved Word document, though not all methods will work in all situations. We recommend testing one method, then moving on to the next method in the list if the first one doesn't work.

Search for the original document in your computer's file list

While you may not be able to recover your most recent additions, you might still be able to access the original version of your document. On a PC, Open the Search bar by pressing the Windows key and type the name of your document. On a Mac, click the spotlight icon in the upper right corner of your desktop. If your document appears in the File list, you can open it by double-clicking it.

© Chrissy Montelli/Business Insider Search in your computer's file list for your missing document. Chrissy Montelli/Business Insider

Check for Word backup files

Sometimes, Microsoft Word will save a backup version of a file without your prompting. Open the folder in which your document was most recently saved and look for a file ending in .wbk or WBK. This is the file type associated with Word backup files.

Look in your computer's Recycle Bin

The Recycle Bin is where deleted files go before they are removed from your computer's memory. You can find the Recycle Bin on your desktop on a PC, or on your dock on a Mac. Double-click on it to open it and check the contents for your missing document.

Use the Task Manager to trigger auto-recovery

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On a PC, press Ctrl + Alt + Delete and click 'Task Manager' to open the Task Manager. Scroll through the Processes tab. When you see Microsoft Word or Winword.exe in the list, click on that process and then click 'End Task.' Do this until you've removed all Word and Winword.exe processes from the list.

On a Mac, click the Apple icon in the upper left corner of your desktop, and go to 'Force Quit...' Select Microsoft Word and then click 'Force Quit.'

Then, re-open Microsoft Word. On the left side of the screen, you'll see a tab called 'Document Recovery' - look for your missing document in there. If you find it, click the document to open it and immediately 'Save As,' choosing .docx as the file type.

© Chrissy Montelli/Business Insider On a PC, locate Microsoft Word and Winword.exe in the Task Manager and click 'End Process' for each. Chrissy Montelli/Business Insider

Search for temporary files in your computer's file list

Similar to our first suggestion, type '.tmp' in the Search bar and click on the 'Documents' tab. Compare the dates of the temporary files to your memory of most recently editing your document - .tmp files are not as predictable as regular Word documents, though, so be careful when opening them.

© Chrissy Montelli/Business Insider You can view a temporary file's information to get an idea of whether or not it might be your unsaved document. Chrissy Montelli/Business Insider

Search for files with ~ in the file name

This is essentially the same as the previous method, except you'll be searching '~' instead of '.tmp.'

How to enable AutoSave on a Word document

For future reference, make sure you turn on Microsoft Word's AutoSave function to avoid losing your work. Here's how to do so.

1. With Microsoft Word open, click on the 'File' tab.

2. Click 'Options,' located toward the bottom of the menu.

3. In the window that appears, click 'Save' on the left side menu.

4. From here, you can set specific settings regarding saving your documents, including enabling the AutoSave option. Click 'OK' when you're done.

© Chrissy Montelli/Business Insider Set your AutoSave preferences and click 'OK.' Chrissy Montelli/Business Insider

Related coverage from Tech Reference:

Microsoft Word documents can be lost in certain situations. For example, accidental deletion, format, or partition losing. The document may be lost if an error occurs that forces Word to quit. Fortunately, there are dependable ways to solve Word problems. Whether your work was accidentally deleted, lost in a Microsoft Word crash, or simply disappeared, here’s a simple guide on how to solve your problem easily and quickly.

Part 1. Three Methods to Recover Deleted Word Files

If you just deleted your Word documents and want to get it back immediately, it a piece of cake. Knowing how to recover deleted Word documents will make you seem like an expert among many of the people in your office, but it’s not complicated at all. There are three effective ways to restore lost Word Documents, read on, and bring back your Word files.

Method 1. Restore Word Documents from Recycle Bin

When you deleted a Word file from your hard drive, you can go to Recycle Bin first to restore it. Recycle Bin in Windows is a folder that stores the deleted files. You can restore the deleted data to the original location when you need it.

Step 1. Go to 'Recycle Bin'. Check if the deleted word file is still there.

Step 2. Select the Word file and click 'Restore' to restore it to the original location.

Method 2. Undo Word Deletion Using 'Ctrl+Z'

If you deleted a Word file, you still can undelete your Word file by clicking 'Ctrl+Z' to undo the delete. After you deleted a Word file, you should perform no further action on the computer. Then, follow the details below:

Step 1. Right-click your mouse after your deletion.

Step 2. Select 'Undo Delete'. Your deleted Word document will get back soon.

Also, you can directly hit 'Ctrl+Z' to undelete your Word document. The Word file will go back to the computer hard drive location.

Method 3. Use Word File Recovery Software to Recover It

Let’s say you’ve accidentally deleted a lot of important Word documents and emptied the Recycle Bin. Most people don't know how to deal with it. Only some users know that EaseUS disk data recovery software can recover all deleted Word documents. It is an advanced Microsoft Word document recovery tool. It can do office file recovery, format recovery, and other data recovery due to partition loss or damage, software crash, virus infection, unexpected shutdown, or any other unknown reasons in Windows. Read on and get to know more details:

Word Recovery Tool Features	Details
Supported Word Versions	Almost all Word versions (2016, 2013, 2010,2007,2003,2000,97...)
Supported Windows Versions	Windows XP - Windows 10 and Windows Server 2000 - 2016
Supported File System	FAT (12/16/32), exFAT, NTFS, NTFS5, ext2/3, HFS+, ReFS
Supported File Types	Almost all common files types (250+)

EaseUS Word recovery software makes Word document recovery as simple as it can be. Follow the simple steps below and retrieve lost Word documents as soon as possible.

Steps to recover Word file with Word recovery software:

Step 1. Choose the Word file location

If it's on a USB flash drive or SD card, connect it to your computer first. Choose the hard disk drive or a specific folder and click the 'Scan' button.

Step 2. Scan and select lost files

The software will start immediately scanning all lost data on the selected drive. After the scan, click 'Filter', choose 'Word' from the drop-down list, and click the tree view on the left side to navigate the wanted Word documents.

Step 3. Preview Word files and recover

You're allowed to double-click and preview a Word file if you have Microsoft Word application installed on your computer. Finally, select the desired Word file and click 'Recover'.

Video tutorial of restoring deleted or unsaved Word documents.

Part 2. How to Restore Unsaved Word Documents (2 Methods)

It's pretty easy to recover deleted Word files. But things could be a little bit difficult if you want to get back unsaved Word files. There are two methods that you can use to get your Word documents back. Either the AutoRecover option or the Recent Documents could do you a favor.

Method 1. Restore Unsaved Word from AutoRecover

We rely heavily on autosaves because documents can be lost when we don’t manually save our work. The good news is, if you have turned on the AutoSave feature, Word will automatically save the files that you are editing every 5 or set minutes. So, you can easily recover unsaved Word documents:

Step 1. Locate the AutoRecover folder on your PC. Open Word, go to 'File > Options > Save', find the AutoRecover file location.

Step 2. Copy the file location path in File Explorer and open the AutoRecover folder. Find and copy the unsaved Word document which is saved with .asd extension.

Step 3. Open Word again, click 'File > Open > Recover Unsaved Documents '. Paste the .asd file at the file name column and click 'Open'. Check the file content and save the file to a new place.

If Word warns that 'Word experienced an error...', repeat the steps and click 'Open and Repair' at the open Unsaved Document window.

Microsoft Word Document Recovery Online

Method 2. Restore Unsaved Word from Recent Documents

If your computer shuts down unexpectedly and you forget to save your Word file, go through this process to bring back the Word document.

Step 1. Open Word and go to 'File > Open > Recent Documents > Recover Unsaved Documents'.

If you don't see the 'Recover Unsaved Document' option, go to 'Files > Info > Manage Versions > Recover Unsaved Documents'.

Step 2. Select the listed unsaved document and click 'Open' to check the content on a new window in Word.

Step 3. Click the 'Save As' button in the top banner.

Also read:Recover unsaved word document on Mac.

Part 3. How to Repair Corrupted Word File

Microsoft Word Document Recovery Pane

What if your Word file gets corrupted or the program itself goes wrong? Whether your system unexpectedly went down or Microsoft Word crashed, you will always suffer from the great inconvenience. Nothing is more frustrating than working on a Word document only to find it get corrupted. But there’s no reason to lose hope. You still get two useful suggestions.

1. Find Reliable Word Repair Tool

You can search the internet and look for a reliable Word repair too instead of a Word data recovery tool. Here are 5 recommendations from Windows Report. You can try them and find a suitable one.

• Stellar Phoenix Word Repair
• Repair My Word
• Recovery for Word
• DocRepair
• Kernel for Word

2. Reinstall the Application to Fix Word Corruption Issue

If your Word application gets corrupted, the easiest way to solve it is to reinstall Microsoft Office on your computer. After the reinstallation, you can try EaseUS data recovery software to restore lost files if you lost files after reinstallation.

Conclusion

The best way to ensure that you will not get into this kind of issue is to have a backup file. Always have a backup copy. You can create a copy of your Word document and upload it to a cloud service like Dropbox or Google Drive. As an added bonus, you can edit the uploaded Word files and edit them anytime as long as you have a stable internet connection.

Frequently Asked Question - Word Recovery Problems

If you still have questions, read these answers and questions below to get additional help.

How do I recover Microsoft Word?

To recover Word file with Word recovery software:

Step 1. Install EaseUS data recovery software. Choose the Word file location.

Step 2. Scan all lost data by clicking Scan.

Step 3. Select Word files and recover.

How do I repair a corrupted Word document 2016?

To repair a corrupted Word document 2016:

Step 1. Click File on the top menu.

Step 2. Select Open on the vertical menu.

Step 3. Click the Browse button and select a document. Tap the little arrow on the Open button, and select Open and Repair from the drop-down menu.

Microsoft Word Recover Document Key

The Word document is now launching the auto-repair function.

Does Microsoft Word backup files?

By default, Word 2013 does not automatically save backup copies of your documents, but you can easily enable this feature by clicking AutoRecover.

How do I recover files from a corrupted hard drive?

Steps to Recover Data from a Corrupted or Crashed Hard Drive:

Step 1. Download and Install EaseUS data recovery software.

Step 2. Select the crashed hard disk and click Scan

Step 3. Preview the files you found. Click Recover to recover your lost data.