Have you ever closed Microsoft Word without saving the document? You are not alone. Do not panic! Microsoft Word has a variety of built-in options that help you recover documents on your PC or Mac computer. This wikiHow teaches you how to recover an unsaved or corrupted Word document, as well as revert to an earlier revised version. If you are unable to recover the document using the built-in features, you must use data recovery software or restore the document from a backup.
Step
Method 1 of 6: Recover Unsaved Documents (Windows)
Step 1. Open Microsoft Word
You can find this application on the Windows “Start” menu.
If the Word program crashes or crashes before you can save the document, you can see the " Document Recover " pane in the left-hand menu when the application is reopened. If this panel opens, click the unsaved file in the panel to open it, then select “ File ” > “ Save As ” to save it. If this step is successful, you do not need to proceed to the next steps.
Step 2. Click the File menu
It's in the upper-left corner of the Word window.
Step 3. Click Info
It's at the top of the left pane.
Step 4. Click the Manage Document icon
This icon is in the right pane and looks like a sheet of paper with a magnifying glass. A small menu will be expanded.
Step 5. Click Recover Unsaved Documents on the menu
The “UnsavedFiles” folder will open and you'll be able to see a list of files that Word has recently backed up and automatically saved, but haven't “officially” saved yourself.
Step 6. Select the document and click Open
The selected document will open in Word.
If you don't see the document you want in the folder, it's possible that the document is already stored in the “Documents” or “Desktop” folder
Step 7. Save the successfully recovered document
So that you do not lose the document again, click the button “ Save As ” in the gray bar above the document and save the document to an easy-to-remember folder (e.g. “Documents”). If you don't see the option, click the menu “ File " and select " Save As ”.
Method 2 of 6: Recover Corrupt Documents (Windows)
Step 1. Open Microsoft Word
If you can't open a Word document because it's corrupted, you can usually use the program's built-in repair tool to restore the document. You can find the Word program on the Windows “Start” menu.
Step 2. Click the File menu
It's in the top-left corner of the screen.
Step 3. Click Open
It's at the top of the left pane.
Step 4. Click Browse
It's at the bottom of the " Open " column, in the middle of the screen. A computer file browsing window will appear.
Step 5. Open the directory of the damaged file or document
For example, if the file is in the “Documents” folder, open that folder.
Step 6. Click the file once to select it
Do not double-click the file.
Step 7. Click the down arrow icon next to "Open"
The menu will expand afterwards.
Step 8. Click Open and Repair
This option is at the bottom of the menu. If the file can be repaired, Word will repair it at this point.
If the document cannot be repaired, you can usually extract text from the document, without formatting and images. To extract the text, select " Recover Text from Any File ” from the “File Type” drop-down menu in the lower right corner of the window and click “ Open " At this stage, you can save the file by clicking on the " File ” > “ Save As ” or paste the text into a new file.
Method 3 of 6: Recovering Previous Document Revisions (Windows)
Step 1. Open Microsoft Word
As long as you save the document to a OneDrive or SharePoint account on Microsoft 365, you can restore a previous version of the document. You can find Microsoft Word on the Windows “Start” menu.
Step 2. Open the file that you want to revert to the previous version
Click the menu " File ", choose " Open ”, find and select the file, and click “ Open ”.
Step 3. Click the File menu
It's in the top-left corner of the screen.
Step 4. Open the version history
In this segment, you can see the various revisions of documents that are saved and grouped by date. The steps you will need to follow will depend on the version of Word you are using:
- Word 365: Click “ Info ” on the left pane and select “ Version history ” (clock icon) in the middle pane.
- Word 2019 or 2016: Click “ History ” on the menu. If you don't see it, it's usually because you're already subscribed to Microsoft 365. In this situation, click “ Info ” on the left pane and select “ Version history ” in the center panel.
Step 5. Click the version you want
All versions are displayed in the right pane under "Version history". Once clicked, the selected version will open in a separate Word window.
Step 6. Click Restore to return to the selected version
Changes that have been made to the document since the date your selected revision was saved will be undone.
Method 4 of 6: Recover Unsaved Documents (Mac)
Step 1. Open Finder
This app is marked by a two-colored smiley face icon on the left side of the Dock.
Step 2. Click the Go menu
This menu is in the menu bar at the top of the screen. After that, the menu will be expanded.
Step 3. Click Go to Folder on the menu
This option is at the bottom of the menu.
Step 4. Enter the “AutoRecovery” folder address
To enter it, type or paste the following address into the text field (replace username with the username you use to access your computer): /Users/username/Library/Containers/com. Microsoft/Data/Library/Preferences/AutoRecovery
Step 5. Click the Go button
The folder containing the files that Word automatically saves will be opened. The files in this folder begin with the word " AutoRecover ".
You will not see the desired file if you select “ Don't Save ” while previously closing Word. Unfortunately, there is no method to recover documents if you select that option.
Step 6. Double-click the file you want to recover
The file will open in Word afterwards.
- If it doesn't open in Word, click the file once, press the “ Return ”, and type.doc at the end of the document name. Press the button again Return ” to save the new file name and follow the confirmation prompt.
- If you are asked to choose an application, click “ Open With " and select " Microsoft Word ”.
Step 7. Press Command to save the file
The “Save As” dialog window will open and you can save the document with the name (and to the directory) you want.
Step 8. Select the file storage directory and click Save
If you don't see a list of folders to save files in, click the “ On My Mac ” to browse the folders on the computer first.
Method 5 of 6: Recover Damaged Documents (Mac)
Step 1. Open Microsoft Word on the computer
If the document can't be opened on your computer because it's corrupted, you can usually use Word's built-in recovery tools to repair the text in the document. You can find Word in the Launchpad and/or “Applications” folder.
Step 2. Click the Word menu
It's in the menu bar at the top of the screen.
Step 3. Click Preferences on the menu
A dialog window will be displayed.
Step 4. Click the General icon under "Authoring and Proofing Tools"
It's in the top-left corner of the screen.
Step 5. Check the box next to "Confirm file format conversation at Open"
This option is the first option.
Step 6. Return to Word and click the File menu
It's in the top-left corner of the screen.
Step 7. Click Open on the menu
The option to open the file will be displayed.
Step 8. Select Recover Text from the "Open" menu
It's in the lower-right corner of the screen.
Step 9. Select the document and click Open
The text of the document will open (and hopefully some or all of the document format will be "carried away"). You may lose some nontext details, but the text of the document itself can be saved.
Method 6 of 6: Recovering Previous Document Revisions (Mac)
Step 1. Open Microsoft Word on the computer
If you accidentally save changes to a document and want to revert to a previous version, you can easily do so on the Mac version of Word 365, 2019, or 2016. You can find Word in the Launchpad and/or “Applications” folder.
This method can only be followed for files saved to a OneDrive or SharePoint account on Microsoft 365
Step 2. Open the file whose old version you want to restore
Click the menu " File ", choose " Open ”, find and select the file, and click “ Open ”.
Step 3. Browse the version history of the file
This segment allows you to view various document revisions that are stored and grouped by date. The steps you will need to follow will differ depending on the version of Word you are using:
- Word 365: Click the document name on the Word title bar (at the top of the screen) and select “ Browse version history ”.
- Word 2019 & 2016: Click the menu “ File " and select " Browse Version History ”.
Step 4. Click the version you want
A list of versions is displayed in the right pane of Word. Click the desired version of the document to open it in a separate window.
Step 5. Click Restore to return to the selected version
It's at the top of the document. All changes you have made since the date the selected revision was saved will be undone.
Tips
- You can increase the speed of saving backup files of Word files by the AutoRecover feature by clicking on the “menu” File " (or " Word ” on a Mac), choose “ Options " (or " Preferences ” on a Mac), clicking “ Save ”, and lowers the number next to the " Save AutoRecover information every " text line.
- If you delete a document, locate it in your PC's “Recycle Bin” folder (sometimes called “Trash”) or your Mac's “Trash” folder. folders. If the file is not available, you can restore it from a data backup or use a data recovery tool.
