MS Word plays a significant role in our work life, especially for writers like us as we write hundreds of articles almost every day.
We almost face a panic attack if we lose or close a word document without saving it. You tend to lose all your data which you spent hours to make.
Don’t worry! As in this post, we’ll help you with recovering lost word documents in all the versions.
However, before we get to the solutions to fix word document not saved, how to recover the problem. Let’s see some of the common causes on how the file gets lost.
According to many users, the Word document loses when:
- You have not saved the document appropriately
- You have permanently deleted the document file
- The processor halts
- There are some errors in the Windows system
Now as we know the leading causes, let us proceed further to recover our MS Word document.
How to Retrieve a Document in Word 2016 and Word 2013?
We have a few ways that can help you to recover a Word document in both 2016 and 2013. This method is straightforward and also enables you to find multiple files quickly. Go through the steps below:
- Open Word
- Go to the File icon and choose Manage Document
- Click on the Manage Document button
- Now, from the drop-down menu, select the Recover Unsaved Documents option
- You can see an Open dialog box which shows you a list of unsaved Word documents to recover
- Select the Word document you want to retrieve and select Open
- Now, save the recovered document immediately
If the above method doesn’t work for you, follow the method given below to find and save your missing Word Document:
You can attempt to use Word to find a backup of the Word Document. Let’s do this
- Go to the File option and click on Open
- Select Browse
- Navigate to the folder or location where you save any version of the document file
- Search for a file with the name “Backup of ” followed by the name of missing file or look for files with an extension “. wbk .”
- Open any possible backup files you find
Just in case you still can’t find the Word Document, you can use Windows Explorer. To do so,
- Press and hold Windows + E key to open Windows Explorer
- Now, Navigate to these locations below in Windows Explorer:
C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Word
C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Temp
C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Word
- Find if any of the recovered or temp file is your lost Word document.
How to Retrieve a Document in Word 2007 and Word 2010
In Word 2007 and Word 2010, you can run a search on your PC to find and locate missing documents.
All you have to do is go to the Start menu and type your file name in the search box and find for the file. Now, Double-click on any results found in the File list.
Look for the Backup Files within the Word App
- Start Word and select the File tab (select the Microsoft Office Button for Word 2007)
- Select the All Files in the file type list
- Search for any backup files and click on open to check if one of them is the unsaved Word document you want to recover
- If you find the document, save it right away
Another great and workable solution is to Force Word to look for AutoRecove r files. Follow the steps to do so:
- Right-click on anywhere on the taskbar and select Task Manager
- Go to the Processes tag
- Select any sample of Microsoft word or Winword.exe
- Repeat the process until all the samples of the word are closed
- Now, close the Task Manager window and start Word . The Document recover pane opens if word finds any AutoRecove r files
- Double-click on the file and ensure to save it and locate it safely
How to Recover a Document in Word 2003 and 2002 users
- Go to the Tools menu and click on Options
- Click the file locations tab and double-click on AutoRecover files, note the route
- Now, click cancel and click Close
- Locate the AutoRecover file location
- Search for the files whose name end with .asd (AutoRecover)
- If you get the Word document file that you are looking for, double-click on it to open it
- Save it right away
How to Recover a Document in Word Online?
You are fortunately in luck if you create a Word document using Word Online, as there is no save button. It is because all the changes you make to your document are automatically saved.
You can also use the EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard which works efficiently in Word 2013/2010/2007/2003/2002.
EaseUS file recover software not only helps to recover deleted files but also performs other recovery data tasks such as USB recovery, Windows undelete or Windows old restore. EaseUS tool is most likely workable and easy to use solution.
Great job! You can now get back your unsaved or lost MS Word file by applying the above methods. Let us know which of the above method works the best for you.
Also, drop in your suggestions and queries in the comments section below.