Recover an unsaved document in Word

When working with Word documents, they must be periodically saved. So you do not lose data due to a power outage or something like that. But, let's say, the system hung, and you had to restart it. Or you accidentally clicked "Do not save" when exiting the program. Re-print a couple of sentences, of course, you can. But suddenly dozens of pages disappear? This is a few meticulous work hours. Therefore, it will be useful to learn how to recover an unsaved Word document.

It will be useful to learn how to recover an unsaved Word document.

Restore from backup

After an emergency shutdown (the computer suddenly freezes or restarts), Word itself will offer to restore the file. For this, the autosave feature must be active.

  1. Run the program. A list of documents will appear in the left part of the window. They were open when the computer turned off. It also indicates the time of their last change.
  2. Find the one you need. Just click on them - the text will be displayed in Word.
  3. As soon as you remove the list, copies will be placed in the trash. Before this, the program will ask you to confirm their removal. It is better to err - the second time they will not appear.

But if this list was not opened, or you accidentally finished the program, and the Word document was not preserved - how to restore it in this case? The procedure depends on the version of the office.

After an emergency shutdown, Word will prompt you to restore the file.

Office 2010

In Microsoft Office 2010 there is a special tool for this:

  1. Click on the blue “File” button at the top of the window. It is slightly to the left of the menu bar.
  2. Go to the "Details" section.
  3. Below there is a block "Versions". It displays the autosave data with the date and time of the last change.
  4. Click on "Version Management" and select the "Restore" option.
  5. The folder in which the backup copies are stored opens. Find the one whose name matches the document.
  6. This is a temporary file. It can be removed after cleaning the system or system disk from garbage. To continue working with the document, convert it to Word format. When you start the program will issue an alert. To do this manually, go to File - Save As.

If the copy is incorrectly recorded, open it directly will not work. But you can do this:

  1. Start Word.
  2. Click File - Open.
  3. Specify the path to the copy.
  4. In the list above the Cancel button, instead of the Documents option, select All Files. Backups have the extension .asd or .wbk.
  5. Click on the desired icon. If you did not save the document to disk, the name will consist of the first words you typed there.
  6. Next to the "Open" button, find the black arrow and click on it.
  7. Select "Restore."

By default, Word stores these copies in a folder that may be hidden. To display it, do this:

  1. Start - Control Panel - Appearance and Personalization - Folder Options (or Folder Options).
  2. View tab.
  3. Put a marker next to "Enable the display of hidden folders."
  4. Click "Apply" and "OK".

In previous versions of Office, there is no "Details" section in the menu. Therefore, this method is not available. But to return your data is quite possible.

Office 2007

Here's how to recover an unsaved Word 2007 document:

  1. Run the program.
  2. Click on the Office logo in the upper left.
  3. Click on the "Parameters" button.
  4. Go to the "Saving" section.
  5. The path to the backup folder is written in the “Directory of data for auto-recovery” block. Remember or write it down.
  6. Remove the options window.
  7. Again click on the Office logo and select "Open."
  8. Specify the path to the folder with copies. You can use them in the same way as in Word 2010 (open and restore).

This method will work with the office in 2003.

Backup Converter

If the autosave file is damaged or gives an error when opening, use the backup converter. It is usually installed with Office and does not need to be included separately. But in which case, you can activate this feature manually.

  1. Open Start - Control Panel.
  2. In the "Programs" category, click on "Uninstall Programs" (or "Programs and Features").
  3. Item "Microsoft Office" or "Microsoft Office Word".
  4. Click "Edit".
  5. In the window that opens, select "Add components" and continue.
  6. Go to General Office Tools - Converters and Filters - Text File Converters - Text Recovery Converter.
  7. Select the option “Run from computer” and click “Continue”. Setup will take time.
  8. Start Word.
  9. Click on the Office logo or the blue "File" button.
  10. Click on "Options", go to the "Advanced" tab
  11. Find the "General" block. To do this, scroll down the menu.
  12. Check the “Confirm format conversion” box.

Now you can use this option if it has been disabled before. This is done like this:

  1. In Word, go to File - Open (in Office 2007, click on the logo).
  2. Specify the path to the backup and click on it.
  3. In the field above the "Cancel" button, set the "Restore Text"
  4. Click on the arrow next to "Open" and select "Restore."

How to enable autosave?

In order not to think about how to restore the Word document, if you have not saved a backup, enable autosave. Here is what you need to do:

  1. The blue button "File" - Options or Office Logo - Options.
  2. Category "Saving".
  3. Tick ​​Autosave every ... and set the time. For example, 5 minutes. And Word will update a copy every 5 minutes.
  4. In Word 2010 there is an item “Keep the latest version on shutdown”. So you can save a randomly closed document.

Enable autosave

Documents stored online or on removable media

A file located on a flash drive, an external hard drive, on the Internet or a network folder, Office perceives as deleted. This does not affect the work. You can calmly type. But if there are problems with the removable device while saving or if the network access is lost for a while, the data will be lost and the work of many hours will be gone. To avoid this, do the following:

  1. The blue button "File" - Options or Office Logo - Options.
  2. Section "Advanced".
  3. In the “Save” field (scroll just below to see it) check the “Copy deleted files to computer” box.

So when working with documents, Word will create autosave data on a PC. And you will return them in case of breakage of removable media or other failure.

How to restore a document if there is no backup?

The backup may disappear after you have completed the program. Even with autosave. And if this function is not used and not configured, returning your data through the program interface will not work at all. But it's not all so hopeless. Here's how to restore a closed Word document in such a case.

Option 1

  1. Open My Computer.
  2. At the top right, find the search bar. To open the entire search window, press Win + F (a button on the keyboard with a Windows logo). The same line is located at the bottom of the Start menu.
  3. Enter there the name or part of the document name with the .asd extension. Replace the missing symbols with * (asterisk). The search takes this sign as a command "There can be any character." A file without a name (unsaved to disk or forgotten) should be driven in as “* .asd” (without quotes).
  4. Wait until the search is complete.
  5. Find a backup of your data in the results.
  6. Also try writing a name with the extension .wbk.

Option 2

Option 1 did not help? This means that there is simply no automatically saved document. But the data may be in temporary files.

  1. Open My Computer.
  2. Click on the search bar. Filters will appear under it. Indicate in them the date of the last document change. You can set the range.
  3. Enter a name with a .tmp extension. And it is better to immediately look for "* .tmp", since the system could slightly change the name.
  4. A fairly large list will appear. But it can find the necessary data.

Option 3

Temporary files are sometimes saved with a ~ (tilde) at the beginning of the name. This symbol is attached to the same key as the letter "e."

  1. In the search, specify the date or range of the last modified date.
  2. Write "~ *. *" (Without quotes). So the system will find all the files whose name starts with a tilde.
  3. A list will appear. Try it to find what you need.

These backups can be opened in Word in the same way as the .ads autosave data. If none of the methods yielded results, use file recovery utilities. For example, Perfect File Recovery or Recuva.

When working with important or voluminous documents, do not forget to save them. In order not to lose progress and not to print everything again, use the autosave feature. But even in the case of some unforeseen events, your data can be saved.