Nothing is more frustrating than losing a document you were working on and realizing there is no way to get it back.

If you work with Word documents frequently, you surely are aware of how upsetting it is to lose your work mid-project. Even when auto-save is enabled in the application, things might still go wrong and leave you with a blank Word file. Or, occasionally, the electricity might go out, causing Word to crash.

 

Is it possible to retrieve an unsaved Word File?

Fortunately, recovering a lost Word document is possible regardless of whether you're on a Mac, using Word 2019, Word 2016, Word 2013, or another choice. Additionally, if you unintentionally erase a Word document, you can retrieve it from the Recycle Bin or use data recovery software.

You can need to restore a Word document for several reasons, including:

• removing files unintentionally from your hard drive.
• While working with a document, the application crashes.
• physical damage to your hard disc or storage device that results in corrupted or deleted files.
• data loss brought on by malware or a virus.

The simple answer is that there are actions you can do to retrieve your lost Word files whether you use Windows or a Mac.

All approaches are covered below. But the first thing that matters is that make sure MS Word's Auto Recovery is activated.

 

How to turn on the auto-recovery option?

You can recover unsaved Word files with the help of the AutoRecovery tool in Microsoft Word for Mac. This option is activated by default when you install the programme, and it stores a copy of all open documents every ten minutes.

However, you can check here to make sure that Auto Recovery is enabled for your Word document:

• Click File.
• Choose Options.
• Click on the Save tab icon.
• Click AutoRecover details and enter a number next to "minutes" if it is not checked. If you wish to save your progress every five minutes, for instance.
• To save the changes, click OK.

If you'd prefer, you can adjust this setting to have the software save data more frequently or less frequently. When working on a Word document, you can return it to the former condition it was in before the last automatic save if the programme or your machine crash.

 

Deleted Word documents can be recovered from the recycle bin

The folder's deleted files won't be accessible there anymore. Till you clear the Trash, they won't be entirely gone from your Mac.

• To access the Trash folder on your Mac, select the icon in the lower-left area of the screen.
• Location of the trash can on the finder dock bar
• Put Back can be chosen by performing a right-click on the file name. The file will be placed back where it was originally.

 

Use Time Machine to recover deleted Word documents.

It is advised to routinely back up your Mac's data. If your backup was made before the file was deleted, you can use it to restore lost Word documents.

The backup media and software that you utilize to back up your computer, potentially Time Machine, will need to be used. To restore a missing Word document from a Time Machine backup, follow these instructions.

• Connect your computer to the storage device that has the Time Machine backup files.
• Open a Finder window and navigate to the folder where the deleted Word document was kept.
• By clicking the Time Machine symbol in the menu bar, Time Machine will be launched.
• To find the Word document you wish to recover, use the timeline and arrows to navigate through the snapshots and backups.
• Click the Restore button after selecting the file that you wish to restore. The document will be put back where it came from.

 

From Mac's temporary folder, recover deleted Word documents

Your Mac's temporary folder should likely be the first place you look if your system crashes or your copy of Word unexpectedly closed.

This is how:

• Launch Terminal.
• $TMPDIR typed
• To view the files, type "ls." For your paper, look in the Temporary Items subdirectory.
• Look for the missing file. If you locate the Word document you're looking for, save a copy of it to a different storage area to retrieve it.

 

Final Thoughts

The frustration is completely understandable when you lose an important word file. It could have several important points or valuable information. Losing your hard work is the worst thing that can happen. However, all the points mentioned above will save you from double hard work. Remember these points for any type of unwanted trouble in the future.