Restore and Recover lost or deleted Microsoft Word Document

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Microsoft Word will lose documents in certain situations such as
Microsoft Word forced to quit unexpectedly or computer power
interruption while writing or close document without saving changes.
Very first step to recover deleted Microsoft Word document is to
restore it from Recycle Bin. If deleted document not in Recycle Bin
then you can follow below mentioned steps to recover your deleted
Microsoft Word document.


Search for the Original Document
1. In Windows > Start > Search > For Files or Folders.
2. In Search for files or folders dialog box, type in file name.
3. In Look in box, click My Computer to search entire computer or My
Documents to search specific area.
4. Click Search Now.
5. If the Search Results box does not show deleted file then continue
following steps to search for all Word Documents.
6. In Search for files or folders dialog box, type *.doc. to search
for all files with .doc extension.
6. Click Search Now.

If still cannot find file, open Recycle Bin and follow these steps.
1. Open Recycle Bin.
2. On View menu, click Details.
3. Click Arrange Icons and click by Delete Date to filter this list
according to date when files were deleted.
4. If you find document that you are looking for then right-click on
it to select Restore to its original location. 5. Open file and
examine contents.

Search for Word Backup Files
Many users rely on Always create backup copy setting (see Tools >
Options > Save tab) to automatically create backup copy of their
files.

To find backup file, follow below steps:
1. Open folder where you last saved lost files.
2. Search for files with the .wbk extension. (wbk stand for Word
Backup)

If you find file that has name pattern “Backup of” followed by name of
lost files:
1. In Word, click File > Open.
2. In File of type box, click All Files *.*, select file, and then
click Open.

If the .wbk file is not located in original folder, search computer as
follows:
1. In Windows, click Start > Search > For Files or Folders.
2. In Search for files or folders dialog box, type *.WBK.
3. In Look in box, point to arrow, and then click My Computer.
4. Click Search Now.

Search for AutoRecover Files
Microsoft Word creates AutoRecover files of documents that you are
working on whenever it crashes so that you can reopen AutoRecover
files in Document Recovery task pane the next time you open Microsoft
Word.

If Microsoft Word finds AutoRecover file, Document Recovery task pane
opens on left side of screen and missing document is listed as
“document name [Original]” or as “document name [Recovered]“.
1. Double-click file in Document Recovery pane.
2. Click Save As.
3. Save document as .doc file.

Use Task Manager to close Microsoft Word after Crash
When Microsoft Word crashes, Winword.exe file may still remain open
and you need to close this before re-open Microsoft Word.

To close Winword.exe using Task Manager, please follow below steps:
1. Press CTRL+ALT+DEL. In Windows Security dialog box, click Task
Manager.
2. On Processes tab, click any instance of Winword.exe, and then click
End Process.
3. Close Windows Task Manager, and then restart Microsoft Word.

Manually search AutoRecover files
1. On Tools menu, click Options.
2. Click File Locations tab, double-click AutoRecover files, and write
down path. Click Cancel and Close.
3. Close Microsoft Word.
4. Open AutoRecover file location.
5. Search for files that end with .asd.

Search for Temporary files
1. Click Star > Search > For Files or Folders.
2. In Search for files or folders dialog box, type *.TMP.
3. In Look in box, point to arrow, and then click My Computer.
4. If Search Options are not visible, click Search Options.
5. Click to select the Date check box, click in the last “n” days, and
then change “n” to the number of days since you last opened the file.
6. Click Search Now.
7. On View menu, click Details, point to Arrange Icons, and click by
Date.
8. Scroll down searching for files that match the last few dates and
times that you edited document.

Search for “~” files
Follow below steps to find temporary file names start with tilde (~)
symbol:
1. In Windows > Start > Search > For Files or Folders.
2. In Search for files or folders dialog box, type ~*.*.
3. Click Search Now.
4. On View menu, click Details and then sort by Date.
5. Scroll through files for documents that match the last date that
you edited document.

If the recovered Word document is still damaged
Microsoft Word tries to automatically recover damaged Word document if
it detects problem with file. You can also “force” Microsoft Word to
recover document when you open it.
1. On File menu, click Open.
2. In File of type list, click All Files *.*.
3. In Open dialog box, select your document.
4. Point to arrow on the Open button, and then click Open and Repair.

Or try using Microsoft Word document fix tool which able to repair
corrupt Microsoft Word documents using text found in previously saved
copies of the file.

via Microsoft Support
[http://www.pupuweb.com/blog/restore-recover-lost-deleted-microsoft-
word-document/]
 
If Word is forced to quit unexpectedly or computer power is interrupted,
your FIRST step should be to reopen Word and hope you are presented with an
AutoRecovery backup. Recent versions of Word actually save a copy while
crashing, so you often lose no data at all.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org

Microsoft Word will lose documents in certain situations such as
Microsoft Word forced to quit unexpectedly or computer power
interruption while writing or close document without saving changes.
Very first step to recover deleted Microsoft Word document is to
restore it from Recycle Bin. If deleted document not in Recycle Bin
then you can follow below mentioned steps to recover your deleted
Microsoft Word document.


Search for the Original Document
1. In Windows > Start > Search > For Files or Folders.
2. In Search for files or folders dialog box, type in file name.
3. In Look in box, click My Computer to search entire computer or My
Documents to search specific area.
4. Click Search Now.
5. If the Search Results box does not show deleted file then continue
following steps to search for all Word Documents.
6. In Search for files or folders dialog box, type *.doc. to search
for all files with .doc extension.
6. Click Search Now.

If still cannot find file, open Recycle Bin and follow these steps.
1. Open Recycle Bin.
2. On View menu, click Details.
3. Click Arrange Icons and click by Delete Date to filter this list
according to date when files were deleted.
4. If you find document that you are looking for then right-click on
it to select Restore to its original location. 5. Open file and
examine contents.

Search for Word Backup Files
Many users rely on Always create backup copy setting (see Tools >
Options > Save tab) to automatically create backup copy of their
files.

To find backup file, follow below steps:
1. Open folder where you last saved lost files.
2. Search for files with the .wbk extension. (wbk stand for Word
Backup)

If you find file that has name pattern “Backup of” followed by name of
lost files:
1. In Word, click File > Open.
2. In File of type box, click All Files *.*, select file, and then
click Open.

If the .wbk file is not located in original folder, search computer as
follows:
1. In Windows, click Start > Search > For Files or Folders.
2. In Search for files or folders dialog box, type *.WBK.
3. In Look in box, point to arrow, and then click My Computer.
4. Click Search Now.

Search for AutoRecover Files
Microsoft Word creates AutoRecover files of documents that you are
working on whenever it crashes so that you can reopen AutoRecover
files in Document Recovery task pane the next time you open Microsoft
Word.

If Microsoft Word finds AutoRecover file, Document Recovery task pane
opens on left side of screen and missing document is listed as
“document name [Original]” or as “document name [Recovered]“.
1. Double-click file in Document Recovery pane.
2. Click Save As.
3. Save document as .doc file.

Use Task Manager to close Microsoft Word after Crash
When Microsoft Word crashes, Winword.exe file may still remain open
and you need to close this before re-open Microsoft Word.

To close Winword.exe using Task Manager, please follow below steps:
1. Press CTRL+ALT+DEL. In Windows Security dialog box, click Task
Manager.
2. On Processes tab, click any instance of Winword.exe, and then click
End Process.
3. Close Windows Task Manager, and then restart Microsoft Word.

Manually search AutoRecover files
1. On Tools menu, click Options.
2. Click File Locations tab, double-click AutoRecover files, and write
down path. Click Cancel and Close.
3. Close Microsoft Word.
4. Open AutoRecover file location.
5. Search for files that end with .asd.

Search for Temporary files
1. Click Star > Search > For Files or Folders.
2. In Search for files or folders dialog box, type *.TMP.
3. In Look in box, point to arrow, and then click My Computer.
4. If Search Options are not visible, click Search Options.
5. Click to select the Date check box, click in the last “n” days, and
then change “n” to the number of days since you last opened the file.
6. Click Search Now.
7. On View menu, click Details, point to Arrange Icons, and click by
Date.
8. Scroll down searching for files that match the last few dates and
times that you edited document.

Search for “~” files
Follow below steps to find temporary file names start with tilde (~)
symbol:
1. In Windows > Start > Search > For Files or Folders.
2. In Search for files or folders dialog box, type ~*.*.
3. Click Search Now.
4. On View menu, click Details and then sort by Date.
5. Scroll through files for documents that match the last date that
you edited document.

If the recovered Word document is still damaged
Microsoft Word tries to automatically recover damaged Word document if
it detects problem with file. You can also “force” Microsoft Word to
recover document when you open it.
1. On File menu, click Open.
2. In File of type list, click All Files *.*.
3. In Open dialog box, select your document.
4. Point to arrow on the Open button, and then click Open and Repair.

Or try using Microsoft Word document fix tool which able to repair
corrupt Microsoft Word documents using text found in previously saved
copies of the file.

via Microsoft Support
[http://www.pupuweb.com/blog/restore-recover-lost-deleted-microsoft-
word-document/]
 
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