Recover an Unsaved Word Document (Word 2019, 2021 and Microsoft 365)

Losing an hour of writing to a crash or a mistaken “Don’t Save” is painful – but Word quietly keeps temporary copies. Work through these options in order; the first two solve most cases.

1. Recover Unsaved Documents

1. Open Word and go to File → Info.
2. Select Manage Document → Recover Unsaved Documents.
3. Pick the file and choose Open, then Save As immediately.

2. The Document Recovery pane

After a crash, Word usually shows a Document Recovery pane on the left the next time it starts. Click each version to compare, then save the best one.

3. Search for AutoRecover files

Word stores AutoRecover copies with the .asd extension. In File Explorer, search your user folder for *.asd, or open the AutoRecover folder directly:

%AppData%u005cMicrosoftu005cWord

To open an .asd file: in Word choose File → Open → Browse, set the file type to All Files, and select it.

4. Backup copies (.wbk)

If Always create backup copy was enabled (File → Options → Advanced → Save), search for *.wbk files next to the original document.

5. On a Mac

In Finder choose Go → Go to Folder and open:

~/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Word/Data/Library/Preferences/AutoRecovery/

6. Previous versions and OneDrive

• Files saved to OneDrive or SharePoint have Version History – right-click the file and choose Version history.
• On Windows, right-click the folder → Properties → Previous Versions if File History or restore points are enabled.
• As a last resort, a recovery tool such as Recuva may find deleted temporary files – stop using the drive until you try it.

Prevent it next time

• File → Options → Save: set AutoRecover to every 1–5 minutes
• Tick “Keep the last AutoRecovered version if I close without saving”
• Save to OneDrive with AutoSave on – every change is saved as you type

• #Office
• #recovery
• #Word

Escrito por

Inder Kochar

Ingeniero de sistemas y redes – Documento las soluciones que aplico con mis clientes, probadas en sistemas reales. ¿Atascado con algo parecido?

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