Double-click the recovered file. The file is opened in Microsoft Word. Click the 'File' menu and select 'Save As.' Type a new name for the file into the 'Name' field at the top of the dialog box that appears on the screen.
Does this situation sound similar to you? You were working in a Word document and suddenly the computer crashed. Maybe it crashed because of technical reasons or the loss of electric power. Or, you closed the document without thinking and now you don’t know how and if is it possible to retrieve it. Luckily, it is possible! Find out how to recover unsaved Word document and save your hard work.
There are two different types of unsaved documents:
- A document that was originally saved but some of its updated versions wasn’t saved. In other words, you worked in a Word document and you saved one version. After some time you added more data in the same document but something went wrong and the latest version of your work wasn’t saved.
- A document that was never saved at all. You were working in a document and you didn’t save it at all. This is more complex situation.
So let’s start from the first situation!
No matter what version of MS Word you are using, there is a way to retrieve an unsaved document. The following guide explains how to recover unsaved Word document in versions 2010, 2013 and 2016. All these three versions of Word have the same process. Later on in the text, we will explain how to recover unsaved Word document in older versions Word 2007, 2003 and 2002.
How to recover unsaved Word document after restart or shutdown?
Although sounds impossible, MS Office made it quite easy to recover unsaved word document after shut down or restart. Just click on the File menu and you will see a list of recent documents as well as some additional documents options, such as Save as, Export, Print etc. If you don’t see that list, click on the Recent button.
At the bottom of the document you will see the option to Recover Unsaved Documents. By clicking on it, a list of recent unsaved documents will appear, and you just need to click on the document you need.
How do I recover an unsaved Word 2007 document?
Older versions of Word, such as Word 2007 don’t have this option to recover unsaved documents with the click of a button. The steps are a bit complex compared to newer versions.
First you need to click on the Office button and then the Word options button.
Click the Save button you will find in the Navigation Pane.
Have a look at the path of the file, that is placed in the AutoRecover file location box.
Now close everything and head to that location to find the lost file. The file will have an .asd extension because it is an autorecover file. As soon as you find the file, open it and save it.
How to recover unsaved Word document in Word 2002/03?
These old versions of Word have a totally different procedure compared to newer versions.
Start by clicking on the Tools and then on Options.
In the File locations tab, click on Auto-recover files.
The following steps are the same as with the Word 2007. So close everything after you had a look at the file path and then find the file by following that path. Again, the file you are looking for will have an .asd extension because that is an extension for autosaved files.
Have in mind, if you don’t see the whole file path, click the bottom arrow in the folder name in the Modify location dialog.
Where does Word save AutoRecover files?
Word saves AutoRecover files in recent files box – for Word 2010, 2013, 2016.
In Word 2010, autorecover files can be found in Autorecover file location box. In Word 2002 and 2003 you will find such files in File locations tab, under autorecover files.
As for the exact location of such files, you can actually choose it or change the default location of autorecover files.
For Word 2010, 2013, 2016, click on the File tab>Options.
A window will pop up, find the Save menu on the left.
In the Save section you will see an option (as shown on the image below) where you can set up the location.
Click the Browse button to change the location where autorecover files will be saved and then click OK to confirm the changes.
What else can you change here?
It is set up by default that files are saved automatically every 10 minutes. You can change the timeframe and have your files saved every 5 minutes or so. These setting is available in the same window above the autorecover file location, see an image above.
As you can see Word saves documents by default, when they are closed without saving. As long as this option is ticked, rest assured you can recover unsaved documents.
But, what about situation two, when you were working in a document for the first time, and it was never saved before?
The same rules apply here under condition you have the abovementioned option checked- Save Autorecover information every…minutes.
You can find the autorecover files in the same way, just follow one of the guidelines above.
Temporary and Backup Files in Word
But, there is more. Did you know that apart from autorecover files Word has temporary and backup files?
Word saves backup files only if you have ticked, or it has been ticked by default the option Always create backup copy.
In newer versions of Word (2010, 2013, 2016), that option can be found in the same window we mentioned above. Click File and Save to open that window. Then click the Advanced option and tick the box Always create backup copy.
In Word 2007, the same options you can find when you click the Office button.
Did you know? Backup files have .wbk extension.
There are different method to search for backup files. You can either search in the search box of Windows, or directly via Word.
If you want to search your computer, just type the extension in the search box and all files of that nature will show up.
![Mac Mac](/uploads/1/2/5/7/125792171/886960249.jpg)
Another way is to open Word and search for all files. In the list of files, look for files with .wbk extension.
The step for opening all files in Word, is pretty much the same for all versions, or with slight differences. You need to click on Open and then Files of type> all files.
And what about temporary files?
Temporary files have a .tmp extension and that is what differs them from other files. Word chooses when such files will be created. The name speaks for themselves, files are on your computer only temporarily.
What is good, if the document you were working on and closed it without saving, was saved automatically as a temporary file, you can find it and save it as a regular file.
You can use the search box again and type this extension name in it. All the temporary files will be listed and hopefully the file you need will be there.
Recover unsaved Word document without AutoRecover
The latest version of Microsoft Word has autorecover set up by default so you don’t need to worry. The chances you lose the whole data are very small. The only part of the document you can lose is the changes after the last autorecover. So, if you have problem with your electricity at home or your computer shuts down, you should have autorecover setup very often, like every 5 minutes.
There are a lot of Word alternatives, and before you start working in one of it, go to settings and check autorecover options. Although Microsoft Word has an automatic autorecover, it doesn’t mean that other similar programs have that option as default.
Conclusion
Even if you are careful enough when working in Word, and make sure your document is saved before closing, you cannot control certain situations. Your computer might stop working due to a power loss or some technical issues, and the document you were working at the time, is at risk of losing precious data. Fortunately, Microsoft Word has solutions to help such situations pass without serious consequences. Hope that this guide on how to recover unsaved Word document gave you enough insight into the problem and its solutions.
By JV Suarez, Last updated: August 26, 2019
'I was working on a really important paper and I don't know what happened, then it crashed. I didn't get to save my word document! Please, I spent a full day on this and my grades are depending on this paper! Please! It is very difficult to rewrite a paper and now I am desperate. I want to know how to recover an unsaved word document. Can you help me?'
'Do not worry! We will tell you how to recover an unsaved word document.'
Part 1. Why You Experience the Issue of Losing Unsaved Word Document
Why we experience the problem of losing unsaved word documents from our devices, here is an answer to your question. Having the rug pulled under you is something we all hate. There's a special sort of panic that comes along with working on something important on Microsoft Word and then watching it vanish because of some unknown error.Only to realize you have yet to save your work. I can imagine that a lot of you are already thinking what sort of facial experience you would have if that ever happens and I'm sure it isn't a pretty one. Pretty much most of us have experienced it once or twice in our life.We are engrossed in our work for either school or work, focused on the Word document and then all of a sudden it vanishes, flashes to the desktop screen or even your phone background, then a notification of an error just sprawls on screen. At that point you are staring at it in disbelief, you can't really imagine it happening to you or that it just happened but the blank Word document right in front of you might not be lying.
Part 2. Best Introduction for Recovery of Unsaved Word Document
It is free to download and also free to use it to restore unsaved documents from iPhone, you can have a try.
Sadly, if you are using any other Microsoft Word version, you might not have such an easy time to recover the documents. On the other hand, if you are working using your iPhone and the document is lost due to an internal error. Don't worry. Thankfully, you have Fonedog Toolkit - iOS Data Recovery to help you get back your documents.Guide to use FoneDog's iOS Data Recovery:
Step 1. Launch FoneDog - iOS Data Recovery and Connect iPhone to Computer
Download and install FoneDog - iOS Data Recovery. Run the software on your computer and connect your iDevice to your computer by a USB cable. Then choose 'Recover from iOS Device' from the left tab and click 'Start Scan'.
Step 2. Scan and Preview The Deleted Data
After you click 'Start Scan' button, the program will start scanning your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch to scan for lost or deleted files.
The scanning process may last a few minutes, depending on the number of files on your iDevice. You can see all the found data are listed on the left side of the interface when the scanning was done. You can preview all the files one by one.
Tips:
If you see that the files you're looking for are there during the scanning process, then you can click the 'Pause' button to stop the process.
If you see that the files you're looking for are there during the scanning process, then you can click the 'Pause' button to stop the process.
Step 3. Recover Your Deleted Data from iDevice to PC
When the scan is complete, you can select the files that you want to restore to your computer.
You can choose all the data or just some files you want to restore. Choose the data then simply click the 'Recover' button, then select a path to recover your data. The program will restore your data to the computer quickly and safely.
Video Guide: How to Extract Lost Word Documents from iPhone Device
Want to know a convenient way to restore word documents on iOS devices, this video is your answer, follow this video guide and you will get it.
Part 3. How to Recover Unsaved Word Files on Your Device
Do you know more about how to restore unsaved word documents on your own devices? There are a number of reasons as to why that happened, not all of them are explainable but regardless of the problem at hand you need a solution and soon. Thankfully if you are using Microsoft Word 2013, there are a couple of solutions that might work. For older or newer versions, you will need to test your luck a little. Anyhow, follow these steps to get the unsaved files back:
Get unsaved word documents back from Recent files
Step 1: Open Microsoft Word, find the 'File' tab and select it.
Step 2: Find and select 'Recent' to proceed.
Step 3: You will find a list of items to choose from, click on 'Recover Unsaved Documents' and you will be brought to a new folder.
Step 4: You will be able to see some files here, choose the appropriate one and click on 'Open' to proceed.
Step 5: It should open the document and hopefully a recently saved one.
Well, now you can retrieve unsaved word documents back from recent files.
Restore word files from Manage Versions option
Step 1: Open Word once more, then click on 'File.'
Step 2: Open a new file or an existing file you may have.
Step 3: Choose the 'File' tab once more.
Step 4: Find the 'Info' button.
Step 5: You will notice there is a button named 'Manage Versions.' Click on that option.
Step 6: Click on 'Unsaved Word Documents' and you should be good.
Again, it may not have saved all the work you did but it should still be something.
As a gentle reminder once more, if you are able to recover it using this method, it would be ideal to save it to your computer or laptop.
Please note that it may not have every word you wrote down but it should have quite a bit, as Word does tend to automatically backup the file every so often. From there it is ideal that you save the file from here in order to avoid any other issues.
People Also ReadThe Best iPhone Deleted Files Recovery in 2018How to Restore iPad With and Without Backup
Part 4. Avoid Losing Documents Via Select Option to Auto Save Word Files
Here's how to enable Auto Recover and Auto Save to protect files in Microsoft Office to avoid losing files documents again
Click the File tab.
Step 1. With help, click Options.
Click the File tab.
Step 1. With help, click Options.
Step 2. Click Save.
Step 3. Make sure the Save auto-recover info every x minutes check box is selected.
In Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, be sure to check the 'Keep last automatically saved version when I close without saving' checkbox. This allows you to recover even if you do not save the word file because of a file error.
In Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, be sure to check the 'Keep last automatically saved version when I close without saving' checkbox. This allows you to recover even if you do not save the word file because of a file error.
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