[Fixed] How Do I Recover Previous Versions of Word Documents?

Lost a Word document? Help!

When editing Word documents, it’s easy to lose something essential due to incorrect actions. For example, if you regret changes made to a document after saving it, the previous content may be overwritten and no longer visible. Additionally, if a crucial Word document is lost due to a system crash before it could be saved, the content might be permanently lost.

Sounds terrible, right? Fortunately, your lost content can be restored by recovering your Word document to a previous version. This post will guide you through several excellent solutions to find your missing data.   

How do I recover previous versions of Word documents?

In this section, five easy and practical recovery ways are presented, which can help you easily recover previous versions of Word documents. However, remember that whether or not you saved the document will affect how you can recover it.

Recover Previous Versions Using AutoRecover

If you didn’t save your documents in time, the AutoRecover feature provided by Microsoft Office might assist you in restoring works. While you're working on a Word file, this feature creates .asd files to serve as backups of your unsaved documents or changes in case of unexpected interruptions. These files will not be removed when MS Word closes incorrectly. Therefore, you can recover a previous version of a Word document using AutoRecover when your files are unsaved due to an unexpected crash or closure.

How to recover previous versions of Word documents without saving? Firstly, try to restart Microsoft Word. You will see the Document Recovery pane on the left side of the window. Here you can choose the desired document to recover.

If the pane doesn't appear, follow these steps to manually recover your unsaved Word documents:

Step 1: Open Microsoft Word, and click File > Open > Recent in turn.

Step 2: Select Recover Unsaved Documents at the interface bottom.

Step 3: Locate the Word document you lost, open it and save it to the specified location.

Recover Documents from Temporary Files

In addition to .asd files, your system creates .tmp files to temporarily store data on the C drive. Similar to the former one, these files might not be deleted if the system suddenly crashes. If your Word documents were unsaved and disappeared, you might be able to recover them from these temporary files.

Follow these steps to recover Word files to previous versions:

Step 1: Navigate to the temporary file location using this path: C:\Users\UserName\AppData\Local\Temp.

Step 2: Find the desired Word document here and change its extension to .docx or .doc.

Step 3: Open and save this file properly to the specified location.

Recover Lost Content Using Software

Sometimes, you may not be able to recover a previous version of your Word document because .asd and .tmp files were deleted. In this situation, using third-party recovery software to restore these files  is an excellent choice.

While there are many recovery products available on the market, I highly recommend AOMEI FastRecovery to you. This professional recovery software allows users to retrieve various deleted or corrupted files from different storage devices on Windows PCs and servers. Whether you're experienced or a newcomer, its intuitive interface will guide you through a smooth recovery process.

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Here is how to recover deleted files using AOMEI FastRecovery:

Step 1: Download and install AOMEI FastRecovery, and then choose the exact partition or disk where your files are located.

Step 2: Scan your disk to find the deleted files. It offers two modes, Quick Scan and Deep Scan, supporting thoroughly scanning your storage devices for finding lost data.

Step 3: After scanning, all missing files will be displayed. Kindly choose the specific files and then click Recover.

Step 4: Specify a path for them and wait for the process to complete.

Recover Previous Versions via File History

How do I recover previous versions of Word documents after they have been saved? Using Windows’s File History feature to recover them is a reliable option. File history is a built-in feature available in Windows 8 and later versions, allowing you to store multiple versions of files with just a few setup steps and offering a flexible recovery option when needed. Before proceeding, please ensure that the feature is enabled in advance.

The specific recovery steps are as follows:

Step 1: Go to the Control Panel, and select System and Security > File History in turn.

Step 2: Click Restore personal files.

Step 3: Choose the files you want to recover, and then click the Recover button.

Recover Previous Versions on OneDrive

Recovering previous versions of Word documents can be easy if you use Microsoft OneDrive to store and sync your essential data. All your files can be viewed in the version history on OneDrive, allowing you to effortlessly recover a previous version of your Word document.

Here’s how to recover previous versions of Word documents on OneDrive:

Step 1: Visit the Microsoft OneDrive website and sign in with your account.

Step 2: Search the desired Word document in the My Files section and then click the three dots and choose Version history.

Step 3: Choose the version that you want to recover, and then click Restore below the three dots.

FAQ

Q1: Can I recover a previous version of a Word document that has been saved?

Yes, you can. When your documents are saved, you can recover their previous versions using the File History feature in Windows. Additionally, recovering old versions from the version history in OneDrive is also practical, provided you are using it.

Q2: Is it possible to recover older versions of a Word document from the Recycle Bin?

Generally, older versions of a Word document are not stored in the Recycle Bin. Only deleted files might be found and recovered from it. To access previous versions of a Word document, it is recommended to use the methods mentioned above.

Q3: Why are there no previous versions on my computer?

If you haven’t turned on the File History feature on your Windows computer, you may see the message “There are no previous versions available”. It is advised to enable this feature to enhance your data integrity.

Conclusion

Sometimes, crucial content in Word documents may be lost due to unexpected overwriting or improper saving. How do I recover previous versions of Word documents? Actually, the ability to recover previous versions depends on whether or not the document was saved. This post offers five useful approaches to recovering a previous version of a Word document. If you are still confused about this issue, read on to find the appropriate strategies for resolving it.